Into the Night
by eppelMax
Summary: Emiya Shirou rejected the notion of sacrificing the few for the many. He could not and would not sacrifice his sister's life even for the sake of humanity's salvation. He wished upon the Holy Grail for her to find a world where she wouldn't suffer any longer. Strangely enough, he didn't expect himself to be picked up along for the ride as well!
1. Prologue

**Into the Night**

 _A Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 3rei! and RWBY Crossover_

 _Written by: eppelMax_

* * *

 _Summary_

Emiya Shirou rejected the notion of sacrificing the few for the many. He could not and would not sacrifice his sister's life even for the sake of humanity's salvation. He wished upon the Holy Grail for her to find a world where she wouldn't suffer any longer. Strangely enough, he didn't expect himself to be picked up along for the ride as well!

* * *

 _Chapter 1_

 _Prologue – Into the Night_

* * *

"Julian…"

My voice reverberated in the cold walls of the cavern underneath Mount Enzo.

Faced before me was Julian, still dressed in Homurahara Academy's brown uniform. His dark eyes glared into my golden brown eyes with unfiltered hatred. It seemed to me that he had been here for some time now awaiting my arrival.

Hundreds of questions flew through my head. Things that I wanted to hear. Things that I wanted answers for.

However… at this moment, there was only one thing that was paramount above all else.

"…Give Miyu back."

I clenched my hands in resolve.

My response was an ugly scowl.

"That… would mean betraying all of mankind _Emiya_ ," he spat my name through his teeth.

I centered my vision on the person in front of me. He squeezed his forehead in a display of frustration and unbridled anger. His shoulders quaked with every moment being here with me. It must've been unbearable.

"I… I don't even know where to begin." He sounded almost hysterical. "Should I be laughing right now? Or should I be crying? I really, _really_ , can't understand you, Emiya. Doing something unforgivable like that," he looked at me in anger; a fiery hatred burned in those sockets. "… **makes you the worst kind of evil**."

I sympathized with the man. "I didn't know…" I understood the feeling of having the weight of the world resting upon your shoulders. To be given a duty of such magnitude was the height of absurdity. A person had to be crazy in order to accept such a duty. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we were both insane to begin with. "You too were fighting alone the entire time weren't you?"

"DO NOT PRETEND TO THINK YOU UNDERSTAND _ME_ EMIYA!" Spittle flew from his mouth. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA! THE PAIN, THE SUFFERING, THE **AGONY**!"

"That's the thing… I do," my eyes softened. "To kill one to save the many correct? I knew someone very well that was like that… in-fact, maybe a little too well…"

Emiya Kiritsugu.

The man who saved a child he had never seen before. The man who adopted and took me in as his own. Taught me like I was his own blood. The smile that he shared with me on that day was one that I would bring to the grave with me. We spoke of his dream of becoming a _Hero of Justice_ countless of times.

I even swore to become one for him.

Installing the Heroic Spirit _Emiya_ reinforced those things. My future self from another timeline followed through this same dogma after contracting with the world and became a _Counter Guardian_. The memories and knowledge he gained were therefore my own. His thoughts, his dreams, and his suffering became mine as well.

While they were all different individuals. They all followed the same ideals of justice that Julian Ainsworth clung onto with dear life.

"Did you know Julian?" I asked him out of curiosity. "About Miyu's family. About the _Sakatsuki_ family?"

The answer was readily apparent as his face contorted in confusion. He waited impatiently for me to elaborate further.

"They kept their ancestral records all the way from the first generation right up onto Miyu's. They called them the _Children of God_ , who had the ability to grant any wish they so desired. Have you ever wondered what a family who had all that power could possibly wish for?"

He broke eye contact with me. An answer unable to come forth to my question. He glared at his feet in contempt.

"Did you know… that all they simply wished for was for their children to grow up healthy? Of all the things in the world…" I shook my head. "They could've wished for things like fame or fortune, but all they had ever asked for was what any sensible parent would want for their own child." I paused so that my words would sink in. "And they did it _without exception for hundreds of years_ Julian."

"Tch," he closed his eyes.

"If that is to be considered evil…"

I marched passed him resolutely. I made my bed.

"…then let me be evil."

It was time to lie in it.

* * *

"Ha…"

I could see my breath every time I exhaled.

The cavern was chilly to the bone. The hike up to the mountainous plateau was taxing. The entire complex was massive in scope. Something like this could fit the entirety of downtown Fuyuki City and then some. And in the middle of this super structure was an altar.

Laying on top of that very alter was my sister.

"Miyu…"

The girl that I had once saved from death. The girl who held the power to save the world. The girl I adopted and became family. Someone that I loved and protected above all else.

I bit the inside of my cheek.

She was also the one that was supposed to be sacrificed for the sake of humanity. To save the World from its own demise. All of it for the cost of one single person…

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"B-Big brother…?"

Golden brown eyes connected with the same colored eyes.

I smiled, a true smile, and kneeled. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long…"

"W-Why…" That gaze of hers filled with sorrow and sadness. I could feel the purist sense of betrayal. My heart wrenched and twisted in the most painful of ways. There was no sword or lance that could inflict such a wound. "Why did you come? I… I heard it from those people…"

My smile faltered bit by bit as she talked.

"Those people told me the reason why you and Kiritsugu took me in," Miyu choked on a sob. It seemed as if she had already accepted her fate. That she was to be used as nothing more than a pawn. An object to be tossed away and forgotten once they were done. "To use my power… that's all I was to you and everyone. A tool to be used. That they would find a way to use me to save… to save the World."

Tears flowed endlessly from her. The thought of being used and discarded like trash hurt her unlike anything else. She was afraid. She didn't wish to die; to not be used like a tool.

 _Emiya_ Miyu had dreams of her own. To see the ocean. To know what freedom was like.

 _To live_.

"So then why! Why did you come here?! To use me like everyone else!?"

The one who I came to see as my own sister did not want to go into the night.

I shut my eyes as I pulled out the seven class cards, including my own, from my jacket. A sign that I had defeated the other six participants in the Fifth Holy Grail War. They came one after another. Some were nothing more than ravenous beasts fueled by their greed for the Holy Grail. Others merely mindless puppets carried on by the orders of the Ainsworth.

Nonetheless… I killed them, with the exception of one, indiscriminately without pause.

"Ha…" I opened my eyes. "This goes without saying." I focused prana into the cards. They soon levitated out of my hands in front of me in a circle. "I'm your older brother," my smile returned. "So that means I have to protect my younger sister don't I?"

Her face turned into bewilderment.

"You know," I began tiredly. "I've been… trying to figure out what to do. And truthfully, it's been one mistake after another with me. So… maybe this might be one too." I took her hand with my own. "Nevertheless, for this one, is absolutely true…"

I inhaled deeply. I could feel her gaze into my soul.

" **I wish upon the Holy Grail**."

And so I prayed to the True Magic.

" _I pray that you find a world where you no longer suffer. I pray that you meet kind people. I pray that you find great finds that you can laugh with. I pray that you find… a warm,_ _ **small share of happiness**_."

The runes surrounding the keystone lit up. The _Third Magic_ known as the _Heaven's Feel_ acknowledged my wish that I brought and accepted it in its entirety.

"B-Brother!" Her eyes squeezed shut. MY grip on her hand slipped as she began to float upwards to the runic system. The _Holy Grail_ began charging up.

For the first time since its inception hundreds of years ago. One of the _True Magics_ activated. It was a sight to behold.

For the first time since I was rescued. I was genuinely happy with myself. I felt free from all of my burdens. That a weight had been lifted. For once in my life I was able to do something right.

"Tch…"

The brevity of the moment left.

Another person had entered the boundary field.

I turned my back to the system and walked down from the plateau.

It was time to greet my last opponent.

"Sorry, but as you can see my little sister is working very hard right now," I said with an irritating smirk. "Could you possibly… you know? Wait just a little longer?"

Angelica Ainsworth sneered. Her otherwise _angelic_ face marred by an ugly scowl. "I cannot _mongrel_. Your filthy wish will not be granted. A mere faker who slipped into the Holy Grail War by accident shall not seize the miracle!"

Golden ethereal light filled the cavern. Untold amounts of Noble Phantasms pointed at me. I held onto my smirk even in the face of certain death. To anyone else it was a terrifying spectacle to behold. But to a _faker_ like me? They were just more trinkets to be added to my own collection.

The wielder of the _True Archer Class Card_ stepped forward.

 _The King of Heroes,_ _**Gilgamesh**_.

* * *

 _A man dreamt of the World's salvation._

 _Another man chose the continuation of his species._

 _ **I revolted and chose to protect one single person's happiness.**_

 _And then that man…_

All twenty-seven magical circuits thrummed to life. Reinforcement to the utmost possible limit that my body could handle. My arms raised up as the golden portals released their weapons like a bullet from a barrel. The innumerable treasures held within the world's greatest treasury sprayed the area. Explosions rocked the cavern and I flew through the air.

 _Gate of Babylon: The King's Treasure._

"Guh…"

My enemy marched forward imperiously and unimpeded. What ludicrous levels of power…

"Hmph – for a mere flesh and blood human, standing against the might of the _King of Heroes_ , _Gilgamesh_ , is the height of foolishness." Her arms crossed beneath her ample bosom. "You may grovel on the ground and beg me for forgiveness _mongrel_. Although if you dare to stand up once more in defiance – _I will show no mercy_."

The ultimate expression of overwhelming force.

This was the power of the _Gate of Babylon_. The vault that the King of Uruk built to store all the treasures in the world that he collected. A space of reality he created so that he could protect it like a dragon would with gold. An untold amount of weapons and trinkets were held within that scared vault.

He was the progenitor of all heroes.

He was the forefather to all their weapons.

All the achievements that future kings and heroes would come to accomplish one day had already been completed by him. Everyone else were mere copycats in his image.

I spat out blood to the side. Not even reinforcement at its greatest could protect me from those scared treasures. Gruesome gashes covered my body as they openly wept.

It was agonizing to move.

"I see…" I zeroed in on her face in recognition. "You're the one from back then!"

It was all coming back to me now. All the dots connected together and formed a clear picture. All those Noble Phantasms were of the highest quality. They were forged from the hearts of the greatest men and women from mankind's history.

"Be they Western or Eastern, ancient or modern, all of humanity's treasures are within this Heroic Spirit's power," flaunted Angelica. She placed a hand on her hip as she casually marched.

I now understood. "That was why Sakura hailed it as she strongest of them all…" I struggled to stay upright. A days' worth of constant fighting against the other _Class Card_ holders was finally starting to take its toll.

"You…" she glared at me as I stabilized myself. "Your stupidity and foolishness truly knows no bounds."

"Trying to save all of humanity eh?" Magical energy sparked the air around me. "I have to say that you people carry an enormous burden trying to save us all. To make a world of peace… but I got someone that I'm responsible for too you know?"

It was time to lay it all to bare.

I refused to let her gain any more ground that she already has. I could not allow her to unleash the full might of her power onto the ritual.

"Tch – be they personal feelings or sentimentality. Both are considered equally worthless in this world." She threw her right arm out and opened a plethora of gates.

Swords upon swords. Weapons upon weapons. She motioned with her hand and they all shot at me like streams of light.

I was a miscalculation. An aberration unaccounted for. For all intents and purposes, I should be dead. There was no way for the Ainsworth, one of the three ancestral families that assisted in the creation of the Holy Grail System, to know that the trash card I was given could still be linked. And that of all heroes that it linked with to the _Throne of Heroes_ was none other than myself.

" _Trace, on!_ "

 _Kanshou_ and _Bakuya_ , the swords favored by the _Heroic Spirit EMIYA_ deflected the projectiles in a hurried flurry. The black and white yin-yang swords gleamed in all their glory. Their familiar weight soothed the storm building within.

"Swords?" she recoiled in shock. "That's impossible… that fighting style… those Noble Phantasms! Those are-!"

"What was that about only being mere flesh and blood human? You're pitifully slow on the uptake _King of Heroes_ ," I mocked condescendingly.

It only served to stoke the fiery rage within the blonde.

The Noble Phantasms that were pointed at me were soon mirrored. I copied each and every one of them faithfully. Right down to the most intricate of details and powers. I wanted to pour salt onto Angelica's wounds.

A small victory in an otherwise losing war.

"THE ONE THAT YOU FACE IS A TRUE IMITATION OF A HEROIC SPIRIT!"

Angelica Ainsworth took a step back in offense. "How… How dare you! Labelling oneself a fake of a fake in front of an Ainsworth!" She clenched her gauntleted hand in front of her face. "For such a grievous sin… YOU SHALL PAY WITH YOUR LIFE MONGREL!"

The battle was on.

Swords sliced into swords.

Lances speared into lances.

I pumped prana down to my legs and dashed forward. The numerous Noble Phantasms encircling me shot forward the moment I finished tracing them. In the opening moments of our fight we had already shot countless treasures at each other.

A potential path of another life.

A life of a Hero of Justice that faced countless battles while being possessed by the embodiment of that ideal and taking it to its utmost limit.

Skills and abilities.

Thaumaturgy and magical circuits.

Memories and experiences.

Origin and element.

All of it was borrowed and taken from him. The hard work, the years of experience, the subtle nuances in his specialized magecraft. Everything he worked so hard to gain, I took it from him and made it my own. None of it could truly be called my own, but I cared little.

Every time that I fought, this body of mine was invaded by _EMIYA_.

I leapt up high to evade a stream of golden bullets and struck from above with my black and white swords.

The paltry attack was easily blocked by her own summoned sword.

"You! Lowly! FAKER!" Her eyes burned with rage at the fact that I was able to come within arm's reach of her.

A gate opened beneath me that launched an enormous zweihander out of the ground to spear my abdomen.

I pulled back on the swords before lashing out again at her sword to vault backwards. I barely dodged the weapon and immediately created some distance between us.

I was unable to receive any reprieve. Golden light shined brightly on my face as gates to the treasury were opened. It literally rained a storm of Noble Phantasms. I copied what I could and projected as fast as possible to mitigate the damage.

The attempt was valiant, but not enough as I was slower compared to her abilities.

A cacophony of explosions rung out all around me.

"You should be well past the point of no return and yet…" Her eyes narrowed into slits. "The strength of your attacks and the speed of your projections is increasing. I do not know what trickery you're using, but know that it is futile in the end." She even threw out her hair.

From an outsider, it looked like I was groveling at her feet begging for mercy. When in reality, I was getting sick and tired of hearing her damn mouth run on and on with no end in sight.

"The only thing that awaits you faker… is ruin."

My hands clenched into fists as I rose once more. My body protested all the way up, wanting to succumb to the accumulated fatigue.

Once more unto the breach.

Once more until my last breath.

"You know…" A cheeky grin split my face. "You're awfully cute Angelica- _chan_."

"W-what?" Her face revolted in confusion. Was it shock? Or maybe something else?

"Are you that worried about little ol' me? Or… are you hesitant to kill?"

The cavern quaked. The Third Magic was close to completing my wish.

Just a little more…

"I never had time for such silly thoughts. If I did, I wouldn't have made it all the way here."

Assassin. Caster. Lancer. Rider. Saber.

I killed them all without thought; without mercy. They would give none to me so I gave none to them. If that was considered evil then I accepted it wholeheartedly.

"If I hesitated just once… my wish would have never been realized."

 _That man…_

I casted away of what little remained of my jacket.

"I STAND HERE NOW TO USE UP WHAT'S LEFT OF THIS WORTHLESS LIFE!"

 _He ended up there…_

" _ **I am the bone of my sword."**_

I pushed out my right hand while my left hand gripped my right forearm.

I casted the spell.

Casting was merely a suggestion to change myself. These words were to connect Emiya Shirou with himself.

 _There lied at the end of that ideal of justice…_

Angelica replied by unleashing a salvo of Noble Phantasms.

I pulled out a shield from the hill of swords to stem the tide.

"Ghuck-!"

The swarm of weapons battered relentlessly against the shield.

 **Rho Aias: The Seven Rings that Cover the Fiery Heavens.**

The great shield of _Aias the Great_ that was capable of stopping _Durindana_ of the Trojan hero Hector. In its greatest form, it was projected as a seven layered Bounded Field in the shape of an iridescent flower. Each petal had the defensive power of a fortress wall like that of Troy. I fed as much magical energy I could spare into the shield.

It was the easiest and quickest form of stationary defense I could think of. However, the biggest drawback with the shield was myself. If she shield was damaged then the user would receive damage in accordance.

There was only one place I needed to reach to even out the playing field. The overwhelming power from the chanted aria filled my magical energy capacity instantly.

"Damn you faker!" cursed Angelica. Frustration written all over her angry brow. Her stream of Noble Phantasms failed to penetrate my shield.

" _ **I have created over a thousand blades."**_

 _Cutting himself off from the world. He fought many battles, saved many people, but lost something of himself with each one._

" _ **Unaware of beginning, nor aware of the end."**_

 _He kept going. He kept marching. Losing himself piece by piece until finally… his world was empty…_

" _ **Withstood pain to create inconsistent weapons, these hands will never hold anything."**_

A dozen golden ripples formed. Silver-linked chains blasted out at breakneck speeds, wrapping themselves around my torso and limbs. It was a pointless endeavor. I had to be still in order for this to work anyways.

" _ **Yet, my flame never ends."**_

The blonde haired magus of the Ainsworth dashed forwards faster than sound while clutching a massive claymore over her head. She was so close, I could see victory dancing in her eyes. Her sword was just in range to cleave me in half.

" _ **My whole life was still…"**_

She let out a guttural roar as she swung.

" _ **Unlimited Blade Works."**_

I casted the true name at that instance.

At that very moment.

Everything broke and everything reformed.

* * *

"Switching individual and collective. Fantasy and reality. Inside and outside. Overwriting the world with one's own very soul…"

A blizzard raged in an arctic wasteland filled with nothing but swords. Monolithic gears gyrated softly in the horizon. A crescent moon illuminated the landscape from above.

"The innermost and highest thaumaturgy, a _**reality marble**_."

I ascended the snow covered hill of swords.

"This is the place that we both saw."

Summiting the hill, at its peak was a singular sword that stuck out of the ground. I gripped the handle and pulled it out of the ground. I raised it high above my head.

The snow storm paused.

 _Caliburn, the Golden Sword of Assured Victory_.

The holy sword that was the symbol of the _Once and Future King_ of Camelot. The sacred sword of the stone that became the symbol of England's _King of Knights_. A sword that changed the course of one individual's and countless others history for eternity.

"So… what do you think?" I said smugly as possible. "It's a world encompassing an infinite number of swords. But if you ask me? They're more like grave markers."

I could see her down at the bottom of the hill in utter shock and awe. She looked all around herself in this world she found herself in. Every bladed weapon that had ever existed was before her. My answer to her vaunted treasury.

"Sorry," I clicked my tongue. "But would you so kindly keep me company until my blades run out?"

The blonde scoffed in disdain.

"It seems as I was mistaken. You truly had no hope of victory from the start didn't you? Disregarding yourself and the lives of others… even animals have more dignity!" She glared up to me as golden ripples formed behind her. She presented weapons of all makes and kinds. Angelica Ainsworth was no longer holding back. "A fitting scene for a mongrel! A puppet like you who mimics the dead shall sink to the bottom of those graves as you wish faker!"

The full might of the _Gate of Babylon_ opened.

 _Unlimited Blade Works_ accepted the challenge.

* * *

I barreled down the hill with sword in hand.

Noble Phantasms collided into Noble Phantasms.

A hundred weapons were met with a hundred fakes.

It was a war being waged by two individuals. A single mistake could spell either of our end.

Angelica opened more portals behind her. As quick as she opened them they were quickly closed causing her eyes to widen in dismay. "You're faster!"

In the real world, the power of the King of Uruk outclassed me by several orders of magnitude. But in my reality marble? I reigned supreme. I was no longer operating at a disadvantage due to the time difference between our powers. Angelica required time to set and prepare her weapons. The weapons in this world were already here and waiting to meet hers.

Therefore, no matter what, I would always be one step ahead of her.

"Too slow," I taunted.

My speed surpassed god-speed.

"Curse you Emiya Shirou!"

Her hand summoned a great wall of shields. Each of them varied from heroes of different time periods and cultures. An assortment of colors blocked my path.

"With countless treasures at your disposal, that heroic spirit is undoubtedly a king among all heroes! That's why you can afford to look down on me like a mongrel! But in the end, you're just a one-trick pony like me!"

I fed prana into the sword in my hands and chanted, " _O – Sword of Selection, grant me power! Cleave the wicked!"_

My body twisted.

My arms reinforced.

" _ **CALIBURN-!**_ "

A wave of golden holy light slashed out. The wall of shields that impeded my path melted away. They were nothing more than slags of metal now.

"YOU'RE JUST AN OWNER! LIKE ME!"

Angelica refused to budge from her spot. Defiant to lose ground to a mere faker like me. Her hand opened up. Dozens of ripples appear above her head with weapons peeking out.

I paid them little mind as I already mentally dispatched the same weapons to strike them down.

I charged forward. My feet skidded across the surface. I gripped the sword with both hands in preparation to cut down my enemy in half.

At this range and timing, there was no way she could escape unscathed!

I slashed at her midsection, "W-What?!" However to my astonishment, my sword phased right through her harmlessly!

How was that possible?!

"Guhrk-!"

My body lurched as I suddenly found myself hundreds of meters in the air.

"Incorrect," her voice sliced into the air. "Don't you dare make light of the Ainsworth you filthy mongrel."

Wind rushed past my face as I corrected myself midair. Angelica had used a spatial displacement magecraft to dodge my attack! Stupid, idiot me! How could I forget such a crucial piece of information?!

"Enough of this foolishness…"

I prepared myself for what was about to come.

"Come forth _Ig-Alima_! _Sul-sagana_!"

Two _divine constructs_ were summoned with the snap of a finger. What insane power that card held! Was there no limit to its strength?!

 **Ig-Alima: The Green Field Cutting Through the Thousand Mountains.**

 **Sul-sagana: Heavenly Formation of the Astral Stars.**

Their sheer size was enough to eclipse that of the tallest building Fuyuki effortlessly. One was a massive flat blade that was the ultimate expression of brute force. The other was a jagged blade that spat out fire. The air was superheated to the point that the snow evaporated instantly in its vicinity.

"AAAHHHHHH!" I focused on the first one that bored down on me. " _ **IG-ALIMA!**_ "

A large chunk of prana was taken to create a hastily traced copy of the divine construct. My projected weapon smashed into the original, completing negating and shattering both of them in half.

The impact the two weapons made alone sent shockwaves throughout my reality marble.

I didn't have the luxury to marvel at their destruction. I turned towards the other one that came screaming in. I was cutting it too close-!

" _ **SUL-SAGANA!**_ "

Another enormous chunk of prana was taken away. The two constructs met the same fate as the previous two.

Mountain sized chunks of metal crashed into the ground. It uprooted all the swords skewered into the ground high into the air. It rained fire and metal due to their cataclysmic clash.

I collapsed onto the ground exhausted. "Ha… hah…"

My lungs sucked in air greedily. Angelica clapped from her position. "Though they have been cheap imitations, you still managed to project two divine constructs while continuing to feed magical energy to sustain this reality marble of yours. Impressive… most impressive."

Our positions had been reversed.

Where I was once looking down at her. She now held the high ground and looked down from her nose.

"Your very existence is flawed. You prove to be a hindrance to the last legend written that was put into motion of the sake of humanity. Your irksome abilities. Your strange use of thaumaturgy. And your abhorrent self-destructive conviction…"

A single golden portal formed to the right of her.

My body tensed.

A handle eased out to which she grasped and pulled out.

Angelica Ainsworth raised that _thing_ above her head.

"…I shall tear them to pieces along with your pathetic world."

Analyzing the sword with my eyes made my brain pound itself against my skull. "Guh…" I felt something break somewhere. Blood fell freely from my nose as I stared at the monstrosity. The mere act of trying to comprehend such an object was almost a death sentence.

What she held in her hands was older than time itself.

"Now you realize your doom mongrel. Lie down like the dog you are and _die_."

I tore my eyes away and shook my head. "I'm honored that you'd bring out something special like that for me… it really shows that you do care about little old me Angelica- _chan_."

Her face sneered in annoyance at that tacked on suffix.

"I admit my defeat. There is simply no sword in this world that can stand equal to what you have…"

The reality marble rumbled.

The thaumaturgical steel manufacturing factory that produced countless famous swords that were without an owner quaked. Far beyond the horizon behind me a black mass grew. From a small speck to an overwhelming wave.

It blackened the skies.

"I'm sorry," I unapologetically apologized, "while it may be a bit rude since it pales in comparison to your gift. I'll have to pay you back… WITH ALL THE SWORDS I HAVE IN STOCK!"

A futile gesture in the face of certain doom.

" _The vortex that turns the stars, this heavenly hell signifies the end of the eve of genesis. Subside with death!"_

I thrusted out with both hands. A storm of swords flew passed me to meet the blast of ruin.

" _ **ENUMA ELISH!**_ "

 _The Sword of Rupture, Ea: The Star of Creation that split Heaven and Earth._

Crimson winds coalesced into the form of a black and red vortex. The air distorted before my eyes. Reality _literally_ shattered in its wake. Space and time were peeled back to reveal the _truth_. The void consumed any and everything in its path.

"GGRRRRAAAAHHHHHHH!" I roared with all that I had left within me. I dumped every single last bit of magical energy I had into this final offensive.

"Futile! Even if you pile all of your blades together! They are no match for the strongest sword in existence mongrel!"

Weapons of all kind.

Swords of all make.

Divine and holy. Famed and infamous. Broken and perfected. Magical and mundane. Heroic and villainous.

They were all insignificant when compared to the might of the original sword.

Every single sword I put forth was torn asunder effortlessly.

In the eye of the storm. I stood there helplessly as _hell_ barreled towards me. There was nothing in my arsenal that could compete against that. "Yeah… I guess you're right…"

 _SNAP-!_

I blinked.

And just like that, it suddenly happened. A connection had been severed.

My eyes widened as I collapsed to my knees.

I cracked a smile. I realized now where all my energy came from. Having fought all those other Class Card holders like I did should have been impossible. I couldn't possibly have had all the prana to do so, but I did. And now it finally dawned on me.

The one who gave me that strength to fight against all odds was _her_.

"Miyu…"

The torrential and whirling doom slammed into my body with the force a thousand stars. I felt my body careened away like a ragdoll. It shattered my inner world with ease. The egg cracked and like a hammer into glass; reality broke.

Even in the face of death, in the face of defeat, I held my smile. There was no pain or suffering that coursed through my veins. With my own terms, I managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Ah – so that's what the feeling was… _satisfaction_.

* * *

"What?" Angelica Ainsworth looked around in the now empty cavern. "What happened? What did you do?! The grail… it disappeared! Almost everything related to the Holy Grail War has been erased!"

The Heaven's Feel ritual reached the apex of its gathered magical energy by the end of our fight. The moment the prana peaked, it severed itself the moment Miyu departed from this world. Sent off to another World that wasn't in its death throes.

This World was guaranteed for damnation. If I was unable to save the collective then I would save the individual. A selfish and villainous goal in the eyes of most. But to me? I finally felt like a Hero of Justice. No one could ever tell me otherwise.

 _My own selfish justice_.

Darkness encroached my vision.

"Ha… I'm sorry that I wasn't able to see you off myself or even better… come with you."

Regret knotted itself around my heart.

"I… I wanted to come with you, but I know I can't… There was so much that I wanted to teach you Miyu. I know you'll probably be mad at me, but I'm sure you can find it in your heart to forgive me… right?"

My chest heaved up as it became difficult to breath let alone stay conscious.

"Damn… there was another thing I forgot. I promised that you would get to see the ocean…"

My breathing eased.

"I gave it my all you know? So please… forgive your big brother for breaking a promise when we meet again…"

I rested my bloodied and mangled arm against my forehead.

"Please – for my sake… be happy."

With great effort, I raised my fist into the air in defiance of everything.

In the end…

"I won – Kiritsugu."

* * *

Angelica Ainsworth quelled the rage within her.

Her mission to stop Emiya Shirou had ended in failure.

The boy who had slipped into the Fifth Holy Grail War had effectively destroyed hundreds of years' of groundwork.

"Tch – Julian-sama will be most displeased with me." She turned towards the unconscious body of her opponent. "At least there will be a consolation prize. We will use your magical energy to find which world you sent her mongrel. Know that what you did will be in vain."

She moved towards his body to imprison him.

As she did so, her eyes widened as he began to fade away.

"What?!" She spoke out in alarm. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Her hand moved to summon Enkidu to grab onto him, but it was a gesture far too late.

And just like that, he too was gone from this world.

"Damn you, you faker…"

A ripple appeared and a spear shot out, cratering the spot where he used to be.

"DAMN YOU EMIYA SHIROU!" She cursed his name and it echoed in the empty cavern.

Now it would make recovering the _Child of God_ along with the Holy Grail system even more difficult without relying on any sort of trace. Their duty to save the world on their terms had been derailed in its entirety.

She steadied her breath to calm herself.

It was time to deliver the bad news to Julian Ainsworth.

Something that she was _not_ looking forward to.

* * *

Wind slapped at my face and whistled into my ears.

My eyes fluttered open and tears leaked as they were stung. I blinked several times to rid myself of the blurry vision. Immediately, I wished I had kept them closed.

"GAH-!"

I flailed about wildly in an attempt to correct myself. I blinked and suddenly I was getting closer to the ground with every second. The canopy of the forest was coming up all too fast for my tastes.

Think! Observe, analyze, and act!

I barely had anything left within me, but a shoddy projection was better than nothing! I just needed something that could arrest my motion to stop myself from crashing into the forest at terminal velocity.

" _Trace-_ "

Before I was able to spit out the last word to trace a sword. A thin object came rocketing out of nowhere and nicked the collar of my shirt, carrying me along its flight path and into the trunk of a tree.

The blade of the spear sank deeply in the wood and left me dangling dozens of feet from the ground.

It was like a thrust of lightning from the heavens itself.

Someone had to have saved me. Otherwise they wouldn't have missed an easy shot. The paranoid voice that grew from years of being with Kiritsugu said to be distrustful, but I shook it off.

I took the moment to gather myself and my surroundings.

"Where the hell am I?"

So one moment I was underneath Mount Enzo and the next I was falling into a heavily forested area. How rotten was my luck for something like this to happen to me? Looking up, I grasped the handle of the spear and tried prying it free. To no avail, it refused to budge even when I struggled to pull it out. Damn, how hard did this person throw it?

"Need a hand?"

Huh?

Red hair broke through a bush. A bronze shield on her back. The armor that she wore was refined and perfected. They orchestrated a sound together that was beautiful and charming like a bell. I rubbed at my eyes in disbelief at the scene before me.

This girl was-

"Hello!" She waved almost nervously. "Are you alright? I barely caught sight of you when I was making my own landing in the forest. I guess you can say I was pretty lucky. And we're in the Emerald Forest don't you remember? You must've hit something nasty if you forgot about the initiation test for Beacon Academy."

I was… wait what? Come again? Beacon Academy? Emerald Forest? And we? Who was we? And what sort of initiation test was she talking about? Just what in the world did I get myself into?

"Uh… y-yeah," I played along, stumbling over my response. I turned away and patted myself lightly all over in disbelief at my current condition. Physically – I was alright, aside from some minor scrapes from my rough fall I was ok. I stared at myself in shock. It looked like as if I hadn't just been in a life or death battle that decided the fate of the world. I was pretty sure I caught a face full of a reality tearing Noble Phantasm just before I blacked out.

My magical energy was low. There was barely enough left to keep myself going. Any more significant or complex projections and I risked damaging my circuits irreparably.

"So… I suppose this makes us partners right?" She spoke up.

Partners?

Ah – this must be some sort of duo program for initiates. Just like how some Enforcers would operate in tandem for the Mage's Association.

"Yeah," I felt like a robot just repeating that word and nodded dumbly. I tried again to free the spear from the tree.

"Here, allow me to get that for you."

Her hand moved to summon her spear back. My eyes caught something rustling in the bushes she came from.

"▃▄▄▅!" A black shadowy beast exploded out. It looked like some sort of werewolf.

"BEHIND YOU!" I warned out to the girl.

Without hesitation, she brought her shield up to block the swipe from its deadly claws. At the same time, I pumped what little prana I had to reinforce my arms and plucked the spear out of the tree. Flipping it in my hand, I chucked the weapon with my right arm – aiming for center mass.

The armored girl that resembling that of a hoplite of Classical antiquity, bicycle kicked the spear at the right moment to add even more power. It pierced straight through the creature as easily as if it were paper causing the beast to howl in pain. She didn't allow it any reprieve and used the edge of her shield to decapitate its head, silencing it permanently. With a motion of her hand, the weapon flew out of its chest and into her hand.

I landed in a messy heap, panting and full of sweat. That look a lot more out of me than I thought it would.

"Thank you for the heads up," smiled the girl in gratitude. "I didn't expect you to return the favor so quickly… um?"

"Shirou… Shirou Emiya." I looked up at the redheaded girl. Time momentarily stood still as I took the sight in. A breeze in the forest washed over us. Her red hair and skirt billowed. She extended a hand to me.

"Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos."

The vibrant green eyes.

The red and bronze outfit symbolized her in the forest.

I reached out and accepted her hand.

* * *

 _Author's note:_

At the suggestion of my editor. I went back this chapter again and brought it up to our standards. Refined wording, past/present tense usage, improved dialogue, and paragraphs. This story uses the _Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 3rei_ Shirou instead of his composite versions from the three routes of _Fate/stay night_.

Yes – Shirou is taking the leading man spot from Jaune in the story as the titular character and the driving force of change on how things develop. He'll still have some relevancy in later chapters.

I hope you enjoy the new and updated version of the prologue to this crossover story.

Please leave a review of your thoughts on the chapter! Feel free to message me of any questions on the story or leave it on your review. I'll be sure to respond as soon as possible!

Word count before A/N: 6,841


	2. The Snowflake's Arrival

_Chapter 2_

 _The Snowflake's Arrival_

* * *

"Professor Ozpin, the last pair has been formed sir."

The silver haired bespectacled man glanced over his shoulder at the woman's presence before quickly returning to the tablet that displayed all the individuals currently participating in the initiation test of Beacon Academy.

"Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie."

He hummed in acknowledgement. His eyes were glued to the screen to something that was far more interesting that acquired all of his attention. Everything else was relegated to a lower priority status.

"Ah – I see… our unknown guest that has made his way into the forest. Would you like me to contact law enforcement and have him detained?"

He didn't respond.

"Sir?"

"No."

Her eyebrows furrowed together. "No? Professor Ozpin, please we don't know who he is and how he wound up in our school grounds. I ran a quick background check of our student database and nothing came up."

"My decisions stands," he said firmly. "Besides we're short on our quota this year with one person missing to make a full team. With him here, he'll round things out in the end when it comes to forming the teams later on."

"You can't be serious Ozpin," protested the woman. "This is rather careless of you. I can understand Miss Belladonna and Miss Rose, but this?"

He held up a single hand. "Don't worry Glynda. Just trust me on this one. I have a feeling he's a special case. I'll deal with him myself after he's completed the task."

"How can he complete the task if he doesn't even know about it?" she countered.

"That's why he has Miss Nikos with him," he returned cheekily. "Just trust me on this one, please Glynda?"

"I hope you know what you're doing Ozpin."

* * *

Walking through this forest called Forever Fall would have been rather tranquil and serene if it weren't for the fact that there were literal shade monsters teeming all over the place.

A part of me was thinking this was actually the Forest of Einnashe and not something else entirely. However that was silly as I was certain the two of us would be long dead by now the moment the forest sensed us. There was a very good reason why it was ranked as the seventh out of the twenty-seven.

"So… how come I didn't see you at the platform?" she said conversationally while cutting down branches to clear a path.

"Late arrival," I murmured. "Plus I keep to myself most of the time."

She nods her head understandingly. "You seemed to have had quite the rough landing. Your Aura should have healed some of your scratches and minor cuts by now."

Aura? What was that? Did she mean to say Od? Or perhaps Prana? No – she definitely said Aura.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. How much further anyways?"

"Mmm – It can't be too far. They didn't exactly tell us where the relics were supposed to be. Just a general direction."

The moment I accepted her hand was the moment I tried to get a sense of what's what by gathering bits and pieces of information through our conversations. There were terms and words she threw at me that I had no clue as to what she was referring to, leaving me to nod my head dumbly. Just more and more things to nail into the coffin that I was a long ways from home. Away from Fuyuki City and in a whole new world.

By my own logical conclusion. The Holy Grail must've decided to pick me up along the way on a whim. It must've heard my own wishes. On one hand that was a good thing as it rescued me from the clutches of the Ainsworth. On the other hand it had to have come at a certain price. After all, no one ever got a free pass in the moonlit world.

No exceptions.

So the question in the back of my mind was, what was the toll for me to be here?

"I think… this is the way. What do you think Shirou?"

She pointed at a dark tunnel at the base of a sheer cliff face.

It was an entrance to a cave system. Of course… it had to be a cave of all things. I just got out of one not too long ago. How ironic…

"Maybe," I said with suspicion. "Doesn't look like there's any other way over or around." The two of us probably can't scale the cliff in a reasonable amount of time to accomplish our task. That meant we had to go through here to get to the other side.

"Well it doesn't look too ominous," she notes. "What can go wrong?"

"Appearances can often be deceiving," I mumbled. "And don't jinx it."

"Wait," she stopped. "Shouldn't we make a torch or something?"

I shook my head. "Our eyesight can adjust to the darkness as we go. A cave can typically be wet and if it goes out, we'll waste time trying to compensate and fumble about making unnecessary noises. We can use the darkness to our own advantage as well."

"You know a lot of useful tips Shirou," she said as we made our way into the cave. "I'm guessing you have some experience in cave diving?"

"I guess you can say that…" I looked away to press on. "A friendly reminder, but keep your voice low and no sudden movements. Stick close, take it slow, and keep calm. We don't know what might be dwelling in here."

If there were any prior indication with the werewolf-like monsters out in the forest. I'm more than sure that there were also ambush-type predators that loved to live in the dark to hide and strike out prey who unknowingly wandered into their home.

* * *

Delving deeper and deeper into the cavernous system. It became incredibly cold just like the one under Mount Enzo. I'm starting to have second thoughts on not making a torch and beginning to miss having my jacket. Too bad all that's left of it is scraps after that fight with Angelica.

"Do… you feel that?" she whispered next to me. "It feels… sort of warm doesn't it?"

"Yeah… I feel it too." I slowed my steps barely to a crawl. Peering in the darkness up ahead, a soft subtle golden glow hummed in the distance. It was tantalizing if not mesmerizing to stare at.

Both our feet found themselves walking to it.

Getting closer and closer it became apparent that it was a luminous golden bulb that looked to be metallic almost. Like a sheen of solid gold radiating its brilliance for all to bask in its glory.

I jerked, halting our movements immediately.

The moment we did, the golden light stopped as well.

She made to move forward. I stuck my hand out to stop her.

I motioned for both of us to take a single step back.

It followed.

We repeat our action once more to be met with the same result.

I gulped.

Murphy's Law was certainly in full effect right now. Pyrrha just had to say something… We had wandered so close to the beast's lair that it noticed us and now it's trying to lure us in with its bait. The pray was at its doorstep. The hunter lied in wait.

When we didn't move for a few seconds. Scores of angry red glowing eyes opened up to search for its two lambs. I licked my lips nervously as I gained some sort of measure to the sheer size of the thing. It was almost the size of a tour bus by my estimates. With the tail and everything I can only guess it was some kind of scorpion.

The creature moved slightly to the right allowing natural sunlight to seep in. I exhaled in relief that we were near the exit at least.

Her body bumps into my hand as she readies herself for a fight. I squeezed her arm and shook my head at the action.

Bending down I felt around me for anything to throw. My fingers bump against a small, loose rock and grabbed onto it. I tested the weight before nodding in approval. Just large enough to make a loud sound, but also light enough to throw far away without expelling too much energy.

Counting down with my hands from three. I chucked the rock across the room as far as I possibly could. The rock shattered against the wall noisily catching the creature's full attention. It forgot about the two of us and scurried off to find its prey.

We quickly made our way out to which it opened up to another part of the forest that was considerably less dense than on the other side. A tree line was visible to where it cleared up to an open grassy area with a series of ruins out in the distance.

Finally, we're almost out of here.

"Shirou… do you think we should've dealt with it?"

I glanced over before shrugging my shoulders. "We're supposed to get an artefact right? We shouldn't waste time fighting a pointless battle that doesn't contribute to our main objective."

"You're right, let's get going."

* * *

My hand flicked away the sweat accrued off my brow.

The physical exhaustion of being active for more than a day along with low prana was quickly catching up to me. Each step became more difficult than the last. I thought I knew what prana exhaustion felt like before, but this was really taking the cake.

"Are you ok?" she asked, grasping my shoulder.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," I waved her off. "Just… more tired than usual."

"Are you sure you aren't hurt? You look like as if you're about to pass out."

"Look Pyrrha, the temple is right there." I point to distract her from fussing over me. "I see two other people there."

That seemed to do the trick as she pried her attention away to the distant figures that were lazing about at the stone steps.

"Oh – Yang and Blake have already made it."

It seems like they were friends or acquaintances at the very least. Pyrrha picked up the pace causing me to follow in pursuit.

"Pyrrha! Is that you?" called out the one with vibrant and long blonde hair. "Oh? And who's that that you have with you?"

"My partner," answered Pyrrha, "Shirou meet Yang and Blake."

"Shirou huh?" the now named blonde began to check me out from top to bottom without shame. "You don't smile much do you?" I gave her a poignant look and grunted. "Geez come on now Broody McBrooderson. No need to play hard to get! I'm Yang! Yang Xiao Long, nice to meet ya!" she greeted cheerily with a wave.

I nodded in acknowledgement before looking to the black haired girl with the bow.

"Blake."

Simple and straightforward.

The blonde, Yang, saunters over. "So," she drawls, "how come I didn't see ya at orientation? With hair like that you sort stick out ya know?"

I lean back slightly. "I was… late."

"Late?" she parroted in disbelief. "And they still let you in? Geez – aren't you a lucky guy?"

"It wasn't…" I looked away to find the right words. "My fault or anything, just some unforeseen events that popped up at the last minute. _Not like I had a choice…_ " Pyrrha was just coming back with the relics in hand. A pair of white knight chess pieces. I resist the urge to sigh outwardly at the sight of it. It's one ironic thing after another.

A Knight Piece for a Knight Class Card user.

How poetic…

"Here's yours," she hands the other piece to me.

I hesitate for a moment before accepting the offered object. "Thanks," I murmured, studying the object. A traditional knight piece in the form of a horse. A plethora of mixed feelings runs through me as the knight symbolized honor, courage, pride, and chivalry. Things that I threw away not too long ago and yet here was a person handing it to me…

How very poetic…

My hands involuntarily squeezes the piece as if the action would choke the life out of the object.

Such a thing was definitely not meant for me. Maybe in another life in another timeline I would've held it in a different light with a different perspective of such ideals. However – this was not that life or timeline…

"Something wrong?" quirked Pyrrha. Her eyes drew a line to my fisted hand.

"Nothing for you to worry about." I walked over to the steps and took a seat as another wave of tiredness washes through my body. A certain weight settling itself onto my shoulders as I closed my eyes. "…So what do we do now?"

"Dunno," replied Yang as she kicked the dirt. "I think we're supposed to wait for more people. Pyrrha? Blake? You girls have any clue?"

Blake shook her head while Pyrrha maintained her vision on my form.

"Well I think-"

"WOOHOO! YEE-HAW! GIDDY-UP TEDDY BEAR!"

I take a peak with one eye to see an _orange_ haired girl yelling in delight on top of what looked to be a bear that had bone white protrusions and plating. Correction – she was just riding on top of it before it collapsed in either exhaustion or death.

"BOOP!" When her hammer smashed into its skull it gave the answer away. "Aww poo… the ride's broken…"

"NORA!" A black haired boy with a magenta streak ran up to her and leaned on the body as he panted loudly. "Please… please don't do that again…"

I shut my eye and turn my head away.

"Ooh! Ren, look! A white knight! It's…" I felt the wind rush by my back. "MINE! It's a little horsey! Aww~ that's so cute!"

"NORA!"

"Hehe, I'm coming Renny!"

The aforementioned girl went back to the boy with a skip in her step.

"Did… are you serious? Did that girl just ride in on a… Ursa?!" pointed an incredulous Blake.

"Uh… I think… so?" shrugged Yang.

I sighed softly to myself as I opened my eyes.

"Feeling any better?" Pyrrha sat herself right next to me. "We're almost done with initiation."

"Somewhat." I craned my neck upwards at the sky. My eyes narrowed as I catch something in the distance. "Pyrrha… is that a person falling towards us?"

"I… I think so…"

"Err… Yang – I think that's your sister," elbowed Blake. "Along with… Weiss."

"AHHHHHHH! HEADS UP EVERYONE!"

I grunted as I caught the girl roughly in my arms before rolling her off to the ground to catch the next one that followed suit quickly. The girl in white forces my knees to bend as her weight meets my waiting arms. A solid thud can be heard as she makes impact. It momentarily left her stunned like the other girl that I dropped just a second ago.

"Thank- oof! Hey what was that for?!" I dropped the girl as quickly as I did with the other one to sit back down. "How rude!" I gave her a sideways long glance before turning away.

"You're welcome…" I said under a tired exhalation.

"Great!" happily clapped Yang. "The gang is all here plus the new guy! Psst – hey, I bet they were quite the catch eh?"

"It's Shirou," I flatly corrected her. "And… no, please stop."

"Hey everyone… I don't want to be the bearer of bad news and all, but there's a Nevermore that's encircling us right now," pointed out Blake.

A bloodcurdling screech rings out into the air to reinforce that fact.

Weiss dusted off her clothing as she addressed the group. "We all have our pieces right? Then there's no point in dilly-dallying any further when our goal is right in front of us. All we have to do is make it back to the cliffs and we're home free."

I rolled my eyes.

That… Nevermore held air superiority. By telling of their choice armaments, I doubt that any of them had anything that could truly count as an anti-air weapon against it. As long as it stuck around, we weren't really going to go anywhere realistically.

"Weiss is right," agreed Ruby. "We get our artifacts and high tail it out of here by getting to the cliffs."

They all held hopeful smiles on their faces as if thinking that we were in the clear. I kept my mouth shut and nodded along with them, allowing it to play out before I make the decision to step in and deal with it myself.

"Time we leave," ushered the boy in Chinese garments.

* * *

"Ha… ha…"

I panted laboriously with each step. Sweat dripped off my face as I concentrated placing my right foot forward after my left and not to stumble to my death. Even in my slowed state, I held enough cognitive power to sense the danger that was coming towards my redheaded partner to the side of me.

Combining speed and weight to create momentum, I roughly shoved Pyrrha to the side with my shoulder sending the both of us sprawling to the ground that ended up with me landing on top of her roughly.

A literal rain of feathers shortly came afterwards, showering the area completely with black feathers. The hardened earth skewered with absolute impunity.

She thanked me for the save before picking ourselves up.

The rest of the group huddled up in the ruins taking cover behind the massive stone pillars and walls. The cliffs were right in front of us, all we had to do was cross over, climb up the cliff and we would complete the task.

With my poor luck, the Nevermore decided it was a lot more fun to stick around and perched itself atop of a tower in the center of the ruins. Screeching and cawing loudly into the air while flapping its wings, buffeting gale force winds throughout the area.

"Well ain't that fantastic!" said Yang. "What do we do now?"

My back slides down the wall as my chest heaved in precious oxygen. Closing my eyes, I check on the status of my magical energy reserves. It still felt horrendously low from the fight with Angelica to the point where if I were in a normal situation I would've cautioned myself to not project anything serious lest I incur a serious injury to myself. It would be insane for me to do anything…

However – this was far from a normal situation and I was _far_ from being considered a sane individual.

"Alright…" I breathed out. "All of you listen up." I got up and used the wall for support. "Distract the bird. Three of you will flank to the right while the other three flank to the left. The last person will engage up the causeway between the stone columns."

"Oooh! So does this mean I get to hit it with Magnhild?" asked an overtly eager hammer bearing girl.

I blinked twice at the rather exuberant person before me. "Yes," I said simply.

"WOOHOO! COME ON RENNY LET'S GO!"

"WAIT-WAIT-WAIT! NORAAAAAAAA!"

His voice died out as he was literally pulled by the collar.

"And what are you going to be doing huh?" asked a highly skeptical Weiss. "I'm not sure if you can tell but you don't have a weapon on you and that doesn't exactly instill me with great confidence in your plan."

"Don't worry about it," I brushed her off. "Just stick to the plan, trust me."

"Well I guess it's hammered in folks!" Yang smashed her fist into an open palm. "We got a game plan, let's go!"

Yang took the left flank along with Blake and Weiss. The girl with the red hood meanwhile took off to the right flank leaving Pyrrha to take up the position alone in the middle.

"Don't worry," she turned her head around. "I believe in you."

I exhaled a weary sigh as she left. Something about that girl was making my head trip over its own feet…

When they were all out of sight and out of earshot I traced a matte black longbow that I immediately used as a crutch to lean against. It felt a lot more heavy and weighted to move around than usual. I chalk it up due to my fatigued state from fighting for so long.

Dragging my feet over to a decent line of fire. I make the decision to shoot on my knees as I'm sure that I don't have enough in me to stand up after this.

" _Trace, on_."

A pitch-black weapon, with a few small edges that coiled around the thin central core rested itself onto my waiting hand. The Noble Phantasm's look was strange for a sword as it resembled more of a spear than anything else.

Nocking the blade and pulling back the string. The bowstring creaked as it is drawn to its full length. I train my sights at the center mass of the creature's body. Too distracted to realize that a sniper laid in wait behind the lines.

" **Go into the red plains…** "

The monster pumped its wings to gain altitude and usher in a barrier between it and its foes. While everyone's attacks weren't doing any significant damage. The amount that they piled on kept it from flying off to high in the sky.

Pumping whatever prana I had left into the weapon. The Noble Phantasm breaks as the point bleeds red. No matter what it did or where it went, the action is futile.

" **Hrunting!** "

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos felt something itching at the back of her head.

Her sixth sense begged for her to turn around to witness the spectacle that formed to her rear. Going against all training and basing her trust in instinct. She brought up her shield to look.

By fortune or timing, she caught it for the barest of moments.

A mere instant, not even a fraction of a second. The instant she heard the name flutter in the wind, something was released and fired that her eyes was not able to keep track of. When she made to follow its path, the action of doing so almost gave herself whiplash.

"-!?"

The angry red projectile slammed straight into the chest of the beast. Plucking it out of the air and pinning it against the cliff like some sort of macabre crucifixion. It squawked pitifully out to the ruins before being rendered into dust like how all Grimm do when they die.

Silence befell the temple ruins.

When she returned her gaze to her partner, her vision caught sight of something disappearing in his hands into the wind before he collapsed onto the ground.

Storing away her shield and sword. Her legs were already in motion towards his prone form.

A dozen questions ran through her head that went mute as concern for her partner's wellbeing took over. She would save them for later.

"Shirou!"

* * *

The soft, rhythmic tone of a heart rate monitor beeping slowly stirred me awake.

My eyes cracked open as I felt around me.

I was on a bed that's for a sure. A rather comfortable one too. My eyes are greeted to a rather plain white ceiling that was illuminated by a dull white light.

I blink a couple of times softly before turning my head around to acquire a better make of the room that I found myself in.

"W-Where… am I?"

It's a hospital room for sure if the medical equipment wasn't a dead enough giveaway. It was all rather sparse, lacking any interior or décor with only a window that peered out into the ocean for the occupant.

Clenching my right hand. I take stock that there's an I.V. and several other vital sign monitors hooked up to my body. I licked my lips and note how dry and cracked they were. Despite the fluids being directly injected I was horribly thirsty. The pitcher of water on the far off counter was tantalizingly out of reach.

The door across the room opened.

A plain looking nurse stepped in and glanced away from her tablet. She blinked a couple of times before tapping away and leaving.

Shortly after a middle-aged man with tousled silver, or was it white, hair and light brown eyes stepped into the room. He wore shaded glass spectacles for what I assume was for reading. He dressed rather casually in an unzipped black suit and green dress shirt.

A woman, of similar age, with light-blonde haired tied into a bun followed suit. She too wore glasses that were ovular. White long-sleeved, pleated top, black high-waist pencil skirt, black boots with heels, and interestingly enough a cape of all things.

And the first thing that greets my senses is the smell of coffee. Freshly grounded coffee that is… then again he did have a cup of coffee in his hand too.

They both stood at the foot my bed.

"Hello there young man," the man greets first. "I'm glad to see that you are alright. Just dehydration, a bad case of physical exhaustion, and low Aura."

I glanced back to the pitcher of water once more.

"Glynda? Would you kindly please?" She brought out a riding crop of all things and pointed it at the pitcher and an empty cup. It floated into the air as the pitcher tipped into the cup and levitated over in front of me. With care I gratefully accepted the cup and downed the contents in record time. The empty cup was levitated out of my hands and placed neatly back with the pitcher. "All better?" he smiled.

"Thanks…"

His eyes stared into my own momentarily. He leant backwards with a welcoming smile.

"May I ask you… do you know who I am?"

I blinked, shaking my head no.

"How about my friend here?"

Same response as before.

"Do you know what kingdom you're in? Does Vale ring a bell? Or perhaps Beacon Academy?"

Silence was my answer to his barrage of questions.

"I presumed so… then introductions are in order. Hello, I am Professor Ozpin and this is my longtime friend and partner Glynda Goodwitch. You are currently residing in the clinic of Beacon Academy. We," he gestures to the two of them, "are the administrators of this school that you've recently found yourself in."

"I… see…"

This is rather a lot to take in so sudden. I'm not sure how long I was out, but it realistically couldn't have been more than a day or so according to my own biological clock. Fighting in the Holy Grail War felt like it happened literally hours ago.

"It's okay, take your time young man."

I breathed in deeply to steady myself.

"Shirou, Shirou Emiya."

"Hello Mister Emiya," he greets congenially.

"Hello," said the woman tersely. She seems to be a straight, by-the-books type of person with how she stood there next to him.

"Would you like to come to my school?" he offered abruptly.

I gave him a queer look at the sudden offer, clearly taken aback in question as to why he's making an offer to some stranger that has no knowledge of the world that he's in.

"What?"

"You heard me," he grinned. "I'd like to extend you an offer to my school."

Skepticism and suspicion came to the forefront of my eyes. "Why?"

"Well why not?" he asks earnestly.

There were plenty of reasons. No money, no background, and lack of basic knowledge were my top three. Not to mention being a complete stranger that quite literally appeared out of nowhere. Things like that do not fly that easily. "Plenty if you ask me."

He chuckled lightly. "Ever heard of the phrase, _never look a gift horse in the mouth_?"

A fair point I suppose, but when you were raised by an infamous freelance mercenary that carried the epithet _Magus Killer_. You tend to pick up a healthy dose of skepticism and paranoia about things that are given so freely. Suffice to say I was unamused.

"I assure you that I understand where you come from. So I'll put it like this: I'm a charitable man and I have a penchant to help people that are in need of it. I simply have good intentions with no ill will to help a young man such as yourself get himself off the ground."

I'm stubborn as a bull. "I still don't see why you want me. I don't particularly have any skills that are noteworthy."

"Oh? On the contrary." He pulled up a tablet that revealed a recording of the fight against the bird. The camera trained solely on me as I watched myself go through the motions to project the bow and Noble Phantasm. The footage stopped after I fired the shot. "From what I can tell you have many things that qualifies you for my school. Ability to take leadership, planning, decisive action, and a rather peculiar… skills that I've never seen before to which I might ask. Where did you learn to do that?"

"Self-taught." Technically correct yet equally wrong. Stealing abilities and experiences from the Heroic Spirit EMIYA was in a way teaching myself.

"Self-taught you say? Then all the more reason for me to insist on inviting you to Beacon, right Glynda?"

"While," she coughed into a hand. "Those do exemplify the attributes that we seek in potential students. We also want individuals who excel academically."

I made a noise of begrudging acceptance. Slowly warming up to the idea of going to this school while learning where I landed myself in. "Even with your invite, I don't have a way to pay for your tuition." And seeing as how well off they are, this place must cost a pretty penny.

"We offer full ride scholarships for the exceptional individuals who shine the brightest. And well… you certainly impressed us with your performance."

He had all his bases covered that's for sure. He's adamant in me accepting his invitation for one reason or another. Maybe I can ask him of something in return? Or perhaps that's pushing my luck too far? Ah – it's not like I have anything to lose. The worst thing that he can say is no.

"Before I accept, there's something I'd like to request."

"If it is within my means then by all means ask away."

"I…" my lips went dry. My hands felt clammy and sweaty all of a sudden. "I have a sister that I… recently lost. As in I was separated from her," I quickly amend. "I was hoping if you'd help me… find her if that's possible."

Glynda's stern expression softened significantly. "A lost sibling?"

Ozpin took a long look at his drink. "I can do that young man, but a word of warning that it'll take some time before anything meaningful comes up. As you can imagine, looking for a single person would be like searching for a needle in a haystack."

Except that needle was in a field of haystacks and it might not even be in the correct field at all. For all I know she could be somewhere else, not here with me.

"That's fine by me…" Anything that can help find her, I'll take it.

"Later on, I'll need to have you fill out a document listing a description of her, age, so on and so forth. It'll help the process go by quicker," informed Glynda.

"I can do that."

"Then does this mean you accept Mister Emiya?"

He leaned forward with anticipation. It's obvious what my answer was going to be.

"Yes."

"I'm glad to hear that you're on board with us!" he said with a chipper voice. "I'm sure you'll come to like what our scholarship entails for you."

The blonde woman pushed up her glasses. "Provided that you keep your grades up to our standards."

I sighed out, leaning back into my bed tiredly in an upright position.

"Young man… sometimes all a person needs is for someone to extend a helping hand. And while it will not necessarily change the world, I know for certain it will change the world for that person."

I blinked… the things that Kiritsugu did for me… I, more than anyone else, understand that completely.

I shut my eyes and softly whispered. "Of course…"

Ozpin set his coffee down and brought his hands together. "Glynda would you please?"

"Yes sir."

* * *

"I still think we should contact James about this," said a hushed Glynda to Ozpin.

He sipped on his drink as the elevator climbed up into his office.

"Glynda you know that James already has enough on his plate as is. He's worried enough about our special guest that he e-mails me constantly asking for updates on her condition. Not to mention his concerns over security with the Vytal Festival Tournament that will be hosted soon. Between you and I strictly, we'll keep this one under wraps until more things develop. If it gets out of hand we'll bring in James and Qrow if need be."

"But this is something that we've never encountered before. A boy who simply appeared out of thin air is going to raise a lot of questions Ozpin. Especially since he's teamed up with that girl Pyrrha Nikos. It's going to attract unnecessary attention that we-"

Ozpin blinked as he interrupted her midsentence. "It seems we forgot something Glynda."

"Oh, oh dear…" realization dawned on Glynda's face by show of her hand covering her mouth. "I… we forgot to inform him about his team."

"Mmm – he'll be fine," shrugged Ozpin. "His team will be visiting shortly after. I'm sure they can give him the news."

"That would be highly irresponsible of us to-"

He waved her off with his cup. "Don't worry so much. Besides we have our work cut out for us with our new guest that we've picked up."

Glynda pursed her lips. "Did you ever find a color for their team?"

He coughed to the side. "As you can imagine finding a color that's abbreviated for SNPR was rather… difficult."

"So it's just… blank?"

"…Yes."

She sighed as the elevator opened.

"I suppose it'll have to do for now until something comes."

Walking into the office they took their usual respective positions with Ozpin in the chair and Glynda off to the side of him.

"So… how about coffee?"

"How about tea? The last four times we've had coffee. You need some variety in your life."

He begrudgingly accepted with a grunt. "Fine, I suppose so…"

"The usual?" she smirked.

"The usual Glynda."

* * *

Peering out of the window from my room. I'm afforded one of the best views it has to offer of the ocean. Over yonder was the city that's name I currently do not know.

"Miyu would've loved to have seen this…"

My hand pinches the bridge of my nose.

Where did the Holy Grail whisk me off to? Why did it even decide to pick me up even though the system was long gone by then after the battle? The ramifications of everything were simply endless to say, but the thought that the Ainsworth would be set back for hundreds of years was a little caveat for me to take.

I sighed to myself. "Hope and faith…"

Two things that I would have to hold onto dearly if I ever wanted to see my little sister ever again. Hope for the best possible outcome and faith that in the end I'll see her and maybe finally keep my promise to her to see the ocean together.

"SHIROU!"

My head snaps to the door of the room as it is slammed open loudly.

I'm greeted to the sight of a group people filing into my room. The first one I immediately recognize is Pyrrha, the first person I met in this new world. Everyone else I remember from passing as the group that I tagged along with on our way to the cliffs.

"Nora not so loud! We're in the medical wing of the school. Keep it down or we'll get kicked out," admonished Ren. "Sorry about that."

"No need to apologize…" I crossed my arms. "So what brings you all here?"

"We came to visit our leader of course!"

Did I hear that right? "Leader? What do you mean?"

"All four of us collected the white knight pieces to form Team SNPR," informed Ren. "You, Pyrrha, Nora, and I all make up the team with you as its leader."

I rubbed my chin in thought. That's something that I was not informed of when those two administrators visited me. It would've been nice if they had informed me prior to my unexpected meeting with these people, but oh well – beggars can't be choosers.

"Leader huh? Nice to meet you all." I bowed my head curtly in show of acknowledgement to them as their new leader. "I look forward to us working hard together. Please take care of me and I will take care of you to the best of my abilities. Thank you."

My new team all nodded in response, graciously accepting and formally recognizing me as their leader of the team. Now how do I go about to actually being a "leader" and what was I supposed to actually do for them?

"You know maybe I was wrong that you were a rude jerk for just dropping me back in the forest. Maybe you do have some sense of manners and formality to you. See Ruby?" turned Weiss. "That's what I expect of you."

"H-Hey! What's that supposed to mean? My introduction was totally awesome and kickass! Right Yang?"

"Hell yeah Rubes!" agreed the blonde. "Don't let Weiss-cream over here make you all square and boring."

"What? I am far from boring Yang!" the snow-white haired looking girl crossed her arms and looked the other away.

"Aww I'm just _yanging_ your chain Weiss-y!"

I resisted making a face at how horrible that pun was. " _That's just plain terrible…_ " I mumbled under my breath.

"Huh?" Yang turned her attention on me. "You say something new guy?"

"No nothing," I responded flatly. "And its Shirou remember?"

"Gotcha red!" she gave me a thumbs up to which I rolled my eyes.

I went back to looking out the window to watch the sun begin to set over the ocean. The feeling of someone staring intently at me makes the hair on my skin rise up slightly. Glancing over I catch the girl with a bow in her hair as the culprit. "Something the matter?"

"Sorry," she said unapologetically. "It's just that I'm trying to remember if I saw you at the platform before we all blasted off into the forest. I could've swore that I was the last person."

I grunted as my unexpected appearance came up once more. "I guess you were mistaken then…"

"Really?"

"Yes really," I sighed.

Her amber colored eyes narrowed before relenting and shrugging.

The bow at the top of her head twitched slightly that made it my turn to narrow my eyes at the action. Bows don't twitch on their own especially when she didn't move at all to agitate it nor was there a draft in the room.

"Anyways – what was this… team called again? Team SNPR? Did I hear that right?"

"Correct," nodded Pyrrha. "Although they weren't able to give us a proper… acronym to represent a color so for the foreseeable future it is left as blank."

"Color?" Was this supposed to be some sort of Super Sentai thing where everyone had their own color to represent something?

"Yeah, all teams are assigned their own codename following the first initial of the team leader's name. The other member's follow in suit to form the name such as Team RWBY's. Ruby here is the leader and it follows on that principle," explained Pyrrha.

"Interesting…" An intriguing concept to use for sure. Even at the superficial level I can see the intent behind it to form long lasting bonds and foster empathy to one another in the team.

"Hi!" waved the aforementioned girl Ruby. "Nice to meet ya! Um… I know this might sound weird but… do you mind telling me what'd you use to kill that Nevermore? All I saw was like a red flash and boom! It was dead! How'd you do it? Because it was totally cool!"

I let out a soft chuckle and closed both eyes. "Well you see…" I opened one to peer at her. "…that's a secret."

Her shoulders deflated in disappointment. "Aww come on! I just wanna know! Here I can show you my super cool, ultra-awesome scythe that I made with my uncle! It totally rocks!"

An eyebrow quirked up in response to how weird that sounded. What a strange girl…

"Maybe later…" An amused grin forms on my face when her lips pouted, how adorable. She acted like such a little kid to a candy store except the candy is replaced with weapons. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. "…I appreciate you all stopping by to visit by the way."

It's a nice gesture by them that they didn't have to do. To know that there were people that were actually concerned about my wellbeing was an alien feeling.

"Oh don't worry. It was Pyrrha's idea actually!" Yang wrapped an arm around the other redhead's shoulders with a smirk. "See girl? He's totally fine, so you can't stop being all worried now."

Pyrrha's cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment. "I was just concerned for him as my partner and leader."

"Oh you don't have to hide it from me girl," Yang held that insufferable teasing, knowing grin. "You were just _extra_ concerned about him with how you kept checking the reception desk." The blonde's eyes peaked at me for a reaction, but ended up sorely disappointed. "Oh dude, you got a mean poker face. Not even a speck of pink in your cheeks!"

"Mhm – nice try."

"Damn!" she snapped her fingers. "Better luck next time I guess!"

Pyrrha coughed into her hand. "I think it's about time we leave and allow Shirou to rest up some more if he wants to be able to leave by tomorrow."

"Aww okay Pyrrha," saluted Nora. "Bye Shirou! Get well so we can start kicking ass as Team SNPR!"

I huffed an amused breath off to the side. "Of course, don't cause too much of a ruckus now."

Everyone shuffled out of the room one-by-one until Pyrrha was the last one left that stood in the doorway.

"Shirou?"

"Hmm?"

"I too look forward to working with you. We're partners now remember so if there's anything that you need help with, don't be afraid to ask."

"Thank you and… hey," I stopped her just before she closed the door. "I never got to thank you for saving me back in the forest. So… thank you again…"

Pyrrha smiled vibrantly. "No… thank you – rest well Shirou."

The door closed with a soft shut and click.

I exhaled deeply through my mouth as I laid back into the bed.

Maybe… this time these hands that have never been able to truly hold anything will finally have something to hold onto…

…to that I can only hope.

* * *

Author's Notes: A rewrite of chapter 2. I did my best to address the issue of shoehorning Shirou into the group, but his introductory is very limited due to the extenuating matters and situation that he's in and how he arrives. I repealed back many of the revelations and secrets about who he is, where he came from, and what his powers are so that they are more ambiguous to the characters. This allows a finer development and interaction with characters in later chapters. It also addresses the whole Ozpin and Shirou debacle that I unintentionally made so I hope this interpretation and development is better than the last one.

With this re-envision of the chapter. Shirou is a lot more reserved and subdued compared to the original iteration. Probably borderline brooding, but that's the general subset of his character in both the VN, anime, and manga. He's brusque, not entirely distrusting but very wary and cautious, and quiet.

A forewarning – this story will _still_ finish wildly different in-comparison to RWBY-Canon. There's an end game in mind and how things will wrap up for an either bittersweet ending or a happily ever after. I'd like to finish this story in a reasonable manner and length with a satisfactory read through. Major example would be the author _"Gabriel blessing"_ and his finished story _"The Hill of Swords"_ , a story I highly recommend.

As always, I hope you enjoyed the update/rewrite of the story!

Leave a review of your thoughts on the chapter and anything else! Don't be afraid to message me anything or just lump it along with your review! I'll try and respond as fast as I can!

Word count before A/N: 7,232


	3. The First Day

_Chapter 3_

 _The First Day_

* * *

Remnant, my new home.

That first night here, peering out the window at a shattered moon struck a chord. I was far from home where a world that I knew for so long was gone and replaced with another that had humanity diverge on another path.

Thaumaturgy was replaced with Aura and Semblance.

Magi with Huntsmen and Huntresses.

A planet filled with monsters called Grimm with the aforementioned individuals fighting for the sake of their species survival…

The first night here was wrought with sleeplessness.

Too much on my mind for a sound rest. Too much thinking and overthinking. Too much worrying for myself and for Miyu.

In the end I can only hope and have faith that my wish actually sent her to a place where she was able to have her own share of happiness. Not this… world that's filled with dark terrors. And if she was here by chance then I pray that she's safe and away from all these monstrosities.

"It really does feel like it is one mistake after another with me…"

I rubbed my forehead tiredly and pinched the bridge of my nose.

The sun was just about to rise out in the horizon of the ocean. All the way here in my room it looked beautiful as the orange illumination slowly crept out in the sky. "…at least the ocean looks beautiful as usual."

Peeling my eyes away from the window. I turn back to the bed where all my new belongings had been dropped off the night beforehand. Books, uniforms, various supplies for classes, and to top it all off a handheld electronic device called a Scroll. A form of a smartphone, but significantly more technologically advanced and all around aesthetically pleasing.

While I wasn't tech savvy, I was at the very least competent with such things compared to other Magi.

"Now where did I put my schedule at? Ah – there it is…"

Color me disappointed when I found out that the classes here were wildly different from my expectations. The subjects that they provided and taught weren't even in my scope of predictions. This seemed to be more akin to a combat school than a regular school.

"I guess I'm not going to be learning calculus any time soon huh?"

"Only if you're looking for a more… scientific oriented career that is," said an amused voice.

It was Professor Ozpin standing at the doorway with a grin and a steaming mug of his usual choice drink, coffee.

"Apologies for barging in unannounced, but the nurses here told me that you've been awake all this time. Trouble sleeping?"

"A little bit," I shrugged. "Different time zones and all that."

"I suppose travelling such… large amount of distance can do that to you," he went along with it. "Nonetheless I see you're ready to start your day. Early bird gets the worm I suppose."

"Seems like you've gotten quite far in the short amount of time you've received them."

"Not much else to do when you can't sleep." I picked up one of the books detailing an abridged history of the world. "Besides… I need to catch up with everyone. Don't want to look too out of place right?"

He chuckled.

"Not to worry young man. Remember that you aren't alone anymore. You have friends and teachers to rely on if you require assistance. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to sit down with you if you have any sort of trouble."

I snapped the book shut.

"I never did thank you for your kindness… you really didn't have to do all of this for me…"

His cane tapped the tiled floor. "None of that now – I give equal opportunities to everyone no matter who or what they are. Beacon stands as a place for hope and change; its doors are always open to those who are willing to seek it and work hard for a better future."

We share a small silence between us as I pack up the rest of the books into a duffle bag.

"You receive everything we sent?" he breaks the silence.

I nod in response.

"Good to hear," he smiled in satisfaction. "Just a note, but we're fairly lax on our dress code. Depending on the classes and certain occasion you won't have to wear the uniform all the time."

I scratched my cheek. "I don't think I'll have much a choice for now seeing as how this is all I have."

Ozpin blinked a few times. "I apologize, that was careless of me."

"No need, I'll just buy my own when I have the chance."

I wasn't the most dress savvy person either as I tended to keep to plain clothing that some may consider boring. Dark slim-straight jeans, white and blue long-sleeved baseball shirt, plain sneakers, and an auburn overcoat if it gets cold.

The white haired headmaster glanced up at the clock in the room.

"It'll take some time to accrue any relevant information pertaining to the whereabouts of your sister… if she is here. I'll try to keep you up to date every week or so through your Scroll," he said suddenly. "I'll need to head back to my work now. Glynda must be wondering where I've gone off to instead of signing off my morning paperwork."

He moved to exit, but stopped. "Oh and you know where your dorm room is correct?"

I showed him the folder.

"Excellent – I'll be off then. Good luck and have a splendid first day Mister Emiya. Once again, welcome to Beacon Academy. I have high expectations for you."

The door clicked gently as he left.

I sighed.

"I might as well pack the rest of the stuff and check out."

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos blinked slowly as her body and mind awoke from her slumber. A bright red LED light on the nightstand glared into her green eyes telling her that it was barely half past five. Just in time to start her day off with an early morning exercise routine.

Exhaling lightly, her hands pushed the covers off of her and got up to change into a set of workout clothes.

Ren and Nora were still sound asleep on their side of the room. The bed beside hers was empty, reserved for their team leader who was still in the hospital.

She closed the door quietly before quickly making her way outside.

"I wonder how he is doing?" muttered Pyrrha as she stretched.

Shirou Emiya.

Her first impressions of him were that he was reserved, quiet, and rather aloof if not to the point of secretive with how he talked. Yet that didn't mean he was less than capable of taking care of himself and others as he demonstrated to her his own set of survival skills and tactical thinking. Not to mention the attack that he used to kill the Nevermore in one shot.

"Blink and its gone just like that…"

With a little bounce in her step, she took off to start her jog. A short and easy run to start her body for the day.

By her own private admission. She herself shared the same sentiments as Ruby in that she was curious as to what Shirou used. Was it his Semblance? Or did he use some sort of weapon that he stowed away secretly? Thinking back on it, Weiss was correct that Shirou was not carrying anything on him at the time. So what was it?

She shook her head to rid the thoughts that plagued her head. The best thing at the moment would be to ask instead of just thinking herself to death.

Taking the moment to bask in the brisk air of the early morning. She picked up her pace and pushed herself harder to exert more effort unto her body.

It would be by her double digit lap around the campus that she spotted a familiar fellow redhead walking in the distance with a pair of duffle bags slung around one shoulder and the other in his hand. He wasn't paying attention in front of him as his head was dipped downward looking at something in his hand.

"Shirou?"

* * *

After being officially discharged from this school's medical wing. I took my time to casually walk around the campus to familiarize myself with the area. The first thing that came to mind was how incredibly massive Beacon was in comparison to Homurahara. It was safe to say that it absolutely dwarfed my old school.

Coming around a large statue in the main avenue of the campus.

It depicted both a Huntsman and a Huntress posing gallantly on top of a rock outcropping with what looks to be a Grimm creature below it. A symbolism of hope and heroism for those taking their first steps towards a new life.

"Shirou?"

I turn to the voice to find Pyrrha slowing her jog to a stop.

"Ah," I bowed slightly. "Good morning Pyrrha, out for an early morning jog I see?"

"Correct, I didn't know you were going to be released this early. I was thinking about having the team swing by to come meet you before class started."

"They gave me a clean bill of health yesterday. They just wanted me to stay for a night to be sure."

Pyrrha's smile was radiant, almost captivating. "Fantastic to hear! I was just finishing up by the way, want to talk back together?"

"Hope I didn't interrupt you. Seemed like you were in your stride there."

"No, no you weren't I assure you. I was almost finished either way."

The walk over to the dorms was relatively short. Along the way we passed by several other early risers that whispered and pointed at Pyrrha to my side. I cocked an eyebrow up in a show of intrigue at their fervor veneration and open adulation of her. It seems like she was rather popular to the other students who attended this school.

Due to either physical appearance or by some special merit their eyes held high praise for her.

I can't fault them for the first one and if it were the second one then I wondered what did she do? A hero? Someone that's famous for the sake of it? Although it was highly like that it's due to a combination of both.

"Here's where we're staying." Pyrrha unlocked the door with her own Scroll, allowing us in. That seemed super convenient for the little thing. I made a note to keep the electronic close to me at all times; best not to lose it. "Across from our room is Team RWBY's. We share the same schedule, classes, and everything for this year."

"Huh," I nodded. "Seems like we'll be getting to know them even better now." By first impressions they seemed rather decent if not excessively cheery when it concerned their awfully young leader. If my assumptions were right, everyone else here were around the age of seventeen while Ruby was probably a year or two younger. Pretty impressive if she skipped a couple grades to make it here at such a young age.

"I'm not sure if Ren or Nora are up yet. They were still asleep when I left," she said in a quiet tone before opening the door gently.

"Pyrrha?" Well that answered that. "Oh and Shirou as well," greeted Ren in his usual flat tone. "I'm glad to know that you are all and well." Out on the carpet, he was stretching his limbs to and fro.

I thanked him, "It's nice to have finally been able to get out."

"Leader?" mumbled out a groggy Nora under a mound of blankets. "Can we have breakfast?"

"Maybe after everyone cleans up then we can all head out together. Our first meal as a team, how does that sound?"

"Yay!" She threw off the covers in excitement.

"Shirou?" called Pyrrha. "Are those all of your belongings?"

"Yeah."

"Here," she opened a closet on the other side of the room. "This one's yours that's next to mine."

"Ah – I appreciate that." Everything was relatively easy to unpack as I sorted all materials out into their respective areas. My team all had their own closet, desk, and shelf from what I can tell in the room. Strangely at a glance I can tell which one's belonged to whom as they all had their own tastes and flairs.

"While you're getting settled in, I'm going to go clean up." Pyrrha gathered her necessities and left the room.

"Let's go Nora," waved Ren with his own stuff. "Let's go get cleaned up as well. Faster we clean up, the quicker we can go get your breakfast."

"Yippee! Food time!" In a flash she zipped out of her bed and took off with Ren leaving my by myself in the room.

I sighed at the sudden vacancy of the room.

For a student dorm, this was fairly spacious seeing as how it can fit four people. It looked more like a studio apartment more than anything else really. Four twin single beds with each having their own nightstand, a long dresser underneath the closed window, and a large middle ground for everyone to do whatever.

It oddly felt like home yet still so…

…alien.

I rubbed my forehead. I've yet to fully actualize that I'm in another world and that I am without a doubt a complete stranger to these lands and people.

"I might as well catch up on some reading," I mumbled to myself, pulling out the chair of the vacant desk to sit down. "Now where was I?" Cracking open the book, I thumbed through the pages until I found a small earmarked page. "Ah… here we are..."

* * *

It never occurred to me once that when I began writing that my home language and theirs were seamless in transition. The moment my pen touched the paper, instead of natural hiragana it's turned into whatever language they used. Same goes for the spoken language. It looks like a lot like English.

I'll have to thank the Holy Grail for that one.

That still didn't mean it gave me the knowledge of the current world so it left me to my own devices to figure that aspect out.

"Hard at work aren't we?" Pyrrha tapped on my shoulder.

I pried my eyes away from the books and sheets of paper. "A little bit."

The redhead visibly approved my actions. "I've done my fair share of reading and note taking, but they aren't as extensive as yours. Color me impressed Shirou." Pyrrha sat down at her desk which was right next to mine. "I made a copy of the syllabus of our classes for you, here" She handed over several sheets detailing the course work and expectations from the instructors this year.

I smiled graciously and thanked her. My teammate was way too considerate.

"I appreciate that," I comment. "Thank you."

"It was nothing, anything you're looking forward to?"

I tapped my pen against the desk lightly. "A little bit of everything though… I'm looking more forward to the trips to the city. It'd be nice to explore the area and other things."

"Vale City?" she filled in the name. "Excited?"

"Somewhat," I grinned. "Know any places around there?"

"Sorry," she shook her head. "This is my first time here as well as I… recently transferred from Signal Academy in Mistral to come here."

I stopped tapping my pen to stare at her for a brief moment. "That's right," I muttered lightly mainly to myself, "the book mentioned there were other kingdoms here too…"

"How about you Shirou?"

"Huh?" I replied eloquently.

Pyrrha smiled patiently. "Where did you come from?"

I pursed my lips as I stared off over her shoulders; my eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "Somewhere far away… that's for sure…" I murmured indiscernibly.

"Pardon?"

"Sorry, I meant to say Homurahara. It's a small and secluded place that I'm sure you've never heard of before."

"Homurahara…" her mouth rolled the name out slowly. "Sounds Mistralian. Was it out in the country? The western part?"

I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms.

"Like I said, don't worry about it too much as it's not important. All you need to know is that it was some little place out in the country."

"That's awfully dismissive of your former academy…"

My lips pressed against each other thinly. "I have my own reasons for that."

"I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories, I-"

I held a hand up.

"It's alright, no need to apologize, seriously."

Her green eyes blinked. Her delicate eyebrows slowly scrunched together in confusion. Before she responded, the door to our room slammed open.

"Breakfast time!" A cheery Nora marched in like a parading soldier.

Ren groaned, "Nora… remember what I said about doors and entering a room?"

"Not to barge in immediately… hehe," she poked her fingers together. "Sorry," Nora stuck her tongue out. "Ooo! Leader can we ask if Team RWBY wants to join us?"

"Mmm… sure. Why not?"

"Nora wait! Don't forget your school bag!" Ren grabbed both of their bags before following her out.

I huffed in amusement at the display.

* * *

Grimm Studies with Professor Peter Port.

Walking into my first class felt surprisingly normal. It was like any other lecture hall that a person would expect with the exception of the subject that I'm learning today.

I studied my lecturer for the morning. A portly, elderly looking man that had a spring to his step. His appearance belied his age as the enthusiasm he exuded was palpable to the class.

"Now before we begin," his voice booms. "Who can tell me what does it mean to be a Huntsman or a Huntress?"

Ruby's hand shot up first. "To be a hero!"

"Ha-ha! Very idealistic, but not quite what I'm looking for! Anyone else?"

"To be strong!" Yang, the blonde I remind myself, pounded her fists against each other.

"Hmm… while you certainly need to be _strong_ ," the professor flexed his biceps into a strongman pose, "that's still note the answer I'm looking for." He paced back and forth in front of his desk. "Two more tries!"

"To be smart!" attempted Weiss, she sounded so sure of herself.

"Mmm – close, but no cigar!"

Weiss's face immediately faltered in a comical way that Ruby started poking fun at her teammate.

"Last try!" he clapped his hands. "Does anyone believe they have the correct answer?"

"Responsibility," I found my mouth moving before my mind could register anything.

Professor Port halted, snapping to the direction of my voice. "Who said that?"

I blinked, everyone's eyes shifted towards me. "Me sir." My hand rose up into the air.

"You there! Stand up please! Can you explain your reasoning Mister…?"

"Emiya, Emiya Shirou. And yes…" I exhaled out. "Being a Huntsman or Huntress means that we share a responsibilities towards not just our teammates, but to those who require assistance. With power we have a responsibility for those that we hold dear to our hearts. Protecting and providing shelter for those are unable to do for themselves."

The class was silent. Their stares becoming unnerving.

"That's it…" he said slowly before it crescendos. "That's exactly it Mister Emiya!"

I took this as my cue to take my seat.

"We are the sword in the darkness. We are the shield that protects the realm of Man and Faunus! We are the watcher on the walls! When we become Huntsman and Huntresses we take a vow of responsibility to save and take care of those who can't! We bear their burdens and hardships to lead the way to a brighter future!"

All around me the first year students were enraptured by the fiery speech.

"It is because of that, that we have a responsibility to make the hardest of decisions that no man, woman, or child could ever make! We are the first and only line of defense against the creatures of Grimm!"

He held his hands behind his back as he snapped to full attention.

"The night is dark and full of terrors, but we are the light that burns them away!" Peter Port's eyes scanned the lecture hall's hopeful faces. "When they ask; are you the Prey? You tell them; _no_ – we are the Hunters!"

What an interesting way to start the first class of the year. Captivate the students with purpose, enthrall them with what it means to be a Huntsman or Huntress, and extol upon them confidence against the enemies that they will face in life.

Poetic…

"The creatures of Grimm are nothing but monsters. Demons! Abominations of the highest order!" He clenched his hand into a fist tightly. "They have no rhyme or reason to their very existence! Cast aside fear! Do not panic in the face of adversity! Bravery and courage! Trust in your skills and knowledge, but most of all trust in your fellow Hunter!"

He marched towards each respective student who answered.

"Use your strength!" The professor pounded his fists together at Yang. "Use your brains!" He tapped the side of his head towards Weiss. "To take responsibility for yourself and others!" He glanced at me with a grin before finally landing his gaze on Ruby. "To be the hero that everyone needs!"

Professor Port returned back to the front of the lecture hall.

"A Huntsman or Huntress needs the culmination of all those things in order to be successful! Grimm have none of those things that we hold near and dear to our hearts! Inch by inch. Foot by foot! We fight – no matter the cost against those monsters! Leave no quarter for they shall leave none for you!"

He took a deep breath as a way for his words to settle in and have effect.

"With that said… who here believes they embody these concepts? The brains, the brawns, and the wits to be a true Hunter!"

Weiss's hand shot up before anyone else's. "I do sir!" By the tone of her voice, something aggravated her for one reason or another.

"Ahh…" Port grinned in delight. "A _Schnee_! Perfect!" He waved for her to come down. "Come! Test your mettle against your opponent!"

He walked over to a steel cage that rattled about wildly and presented it to her in a grandstand manner. The monster inside squealed angrily as it bashed against the steel bars in a vain attempt to escape its prison.

"Well what do you know?" I crossed my arms. "…a live test… this should be interesting."

Weiss changed out of her uniform in place of her normal wear; a snow white frilly dress and all.

Her poised stance ready at hand to face the beast with her sword prepared. She was a left handed user it seems.

My eyes narrowed as I used structural analysis to observe the weapon in clarity.

 **Myrtenaster** , _the Multi-Action Dust Rapier_ , or _MADR_ for short. A rapier that held a revolver-like mechanism in the hilt that held an assortment of Dust cartridges for different intended effects.

This is the first time that I've had the chance to observe the weapons of this world with care. Slowly, but surely I'm overcome with a realization that Unlimited Blade Works would fail to actually effectively reproduce the weapon in its entirety due to the amount of working parts associated in its making. The revolver Dust mechanism acted like a gun and by nature Unlimited Blade Works cannot project such a thing to its fullest.

It can, which I theorize, recreate the weapon, but it would be without the features associated with the blade to use it at its fullest potential. Essentially it would be just any other rapier except it would have a fancy revolver that did nothing. Something to test out later on by myself in private.

"YEAHHHHH! WOOO! GOOO WEISS! KICK ITS ASS!" roared a rambunctious Yang.

"Do your best Weiss!" smiled Blake. Her cheer was more subdued, yet equally as supportive in her own way.

"Yeah!" Ruby threw her hands up into the air. "Represent Team RWBY Weiss!"

I cracked a small smile at their show of camaraderie. Ruby's cheer was cute in a child-like, innocent manner with how she held herself.

"Ugh, Ruby!" Weiss singled her out. "Quiet down, I'm trying to focus!"

The corners of my lips dropped.

"Oh… um… sorry Weiss," apologized Ruby.

"Alright!" boomed Port. "Begin!"

He brought his weapon to bear and slashed at the lock. I take the briefest of moments to analyze the axe-shotgun thing in his arms. What a strange weapon in this strange new world. It seems like everyone had a melee weapon that also coupled as a rifle of sorts.

The monster in the cage bursts out at its assumed freedom.

A short glance at the chalkboard informed me that this thing was called a Boarbatusk.

The snow-white swordswoman slashed at its thick hide and rolled. A glancing blow as her blade bounced off harmlessly with a twang.

Her knees bent, blasting off in the direction of the Grimm with a forward aggressive thrust. The beauty and the beast met halfway. It was by either pure luck or poor misfortune that the monster swept its head conveniently from right to left to catch the rapier between its quadruple bone white tusks.

"Waagh-! Gah-!"

Weiss futilely attempted to wrestle the tangled blade. It only enraged the Boarbatusk even more as it thrashed about like a bull.

"Come on Weiss!" supported Ruby from the sidelines. "Show that piggy whose boss! You can do it!"

Ruby's words of encouragement turned out to be a distraction for Weiss as the girl turned her head at the worst possible moment. The words on her lips never escaped as the thing freed the sword and smashed its curled tusks into her chest. It sent her skidding across the ground towards the Professor's boots.

He stepped away in response, letting his intentions be known that this was strictly her problem to deal with alone.

The huntress-in-training and monster circled each other like a matador and their bull. The white haired girl patiently waited for the boar to charge. It huffed and snorted, pawing at the ground before charging in with reckless abandon. It failed to see the bait as it smashed its skull into the wooden desk sending splinters to fly everywhere.

Weiss scrambled for her discarded weapon on the other side of the room. Rolling over it and sliding into a basic stance in one perfect transition.

"Weiss! The belly!" pointed Ruby at her own self. "It's not protected, so you can-!"

"RUBY!" exploded an annoyed Weiss. "I CAN DO THIS ON MY OWN! I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!"

I looked on in displeasure her action. Ruby deflated depressingly as she turned into a meek girl at her teammate's reaction to her tips.

By now the Boarbatusk had pried its head out of the wood. It pranced about for a second in frustration. Channeling that energy it rolled itself into a ball and flung itself at Weiss like a bullet.

She held her ground, fully prepared for the attack by slashing at the air in front of her to form a blue glyph. It formed a solid shield to which the boar slammed into and recoiled off violently. Her sword he stabbed upwards to create another glyph for her to use as a platform to rocket forward.

Her left arm cocked back. Her muscles coiled like a cobra.

Myrtenaster is thrusted out the moment her feet touched the ground. Its blade piercing through flesh and bone to where the heart should be.

It squealed defiantly one last time before she buried the blade deeper to silence it.

"Bravo!" clapped the teacher. "Excellent work Miss Schnee! As expected of one such as your caliber!" The class soon followed to clap with mine being more subdued as I gave her a stern gaze. "You exceeded my expectations to go above and beyond! Truly – you are a Huntress in the making just like your sister!"

A small glance towards Ruby.

She attempted to help her teammate in the best way she knew how only to be shot down voraciously, but also in public to the rest of the class. The poor girl felt it was her responsibility as a leader to assist Weiss in any way shape for form to allow her to get ahead.

"With that, we may now officially begin the lesson of the day!"

I kept an eye on Ruby as she tried, in vain, to profusely apologize to Weiss who was doing her best to ignore her leader.

Pyrrha touched my arm with concern written in her eye.

I shook my head to tell her nothing was wrong and that she needn't to worry about it.

"Onto the nature of the creatures of Grimm!"

For an unexplainable reason I was beginning to worry about Ruby. How she frantically tried to plead with her teammate who ignored her was unsettling. Maybe it was because of my older brother instincts that ran through my veins told me to do something about it. To protect that childlike innocence to the harsh realities that people can be mean and cruel.

 _What if it were Miyu?_

I closed my eyes and turned away.

That fleeting thought churned my stomach unpleasantly leaving me feeling unwell.

I exhaled out and concentrated on the board.

Maybe…

…maybe I should see what happens after. Just to be sure nothing bad happens.

Nothing wrong with that… right?

* * *

When class ended, Weiss was the first to leave the lecture hall quickly followed by Ruby in hot pursuit.

"Whew!" stretched Nora. "I didn't know Beacon would have really long classes!"

"Of course Nora," chastised Ren. "Beacon is the premier academy for all would be huntsman and huntresses. In fact, Beacon's reputation precedes all the other academies as they laid the foundations of today's education standards. They are the… progenitors that all the other kingdom's soon followed."

"But what does that have to do with the classes being so long Ren!"

"They're long because these are the final four years before we are certified as legal huntsman. Therefore they must prepare us as much as possible for the world before we graduate." Ren answered patiently, never missing a step in his cadence.

That was quite informative for me as it gave me a sense of where I was at in terms of education level. In essence I skipped the last years as a high schooler and went to the university level.

Nora's stomach growled. "Ugh I'm hungry! Can we go eat lunch now please?"

"Shirou?"

"Hmm?" I see Pyrrha with a small smile. "Yeah sorry, I'll catch up with you later. I need to go grab something that I forgot for the next class. Don't worry about me, I'll catch up to you all soon."

"Ah – do you want me to come with you?" offered Pyrrha.

"Nah, it'll be quick. No need to waste your time." I already started to walk away from them. "Enjoy your lunch and save me a spot if you can please."

"Alrighty leader! Come guys let's get going before the dining hall gets busy!"

* * *

"And you know what? Ozpin made a mistake."

Found them.

I caught the very end of their conversation it seems.

Their conversation towards one another must've been grueling as Ruby's hands frantically scratched at her hair in a show of frustration. Her teammate's words must've cut into her deeper than any blade could ever hope to.

I sighed to myself.

Whatever was said, it certainly ended a thousand times better than my falling out with Julian.

"S-Shirou?" squeaked Ruby. "Where did… um where did you come from?"

The girl in a red hood looked awful from Weiss's berating. Her fingers constantly scratching at her head in abashment messing up that black and red tuff of hair.

"Was walking to lunch when I heard some commotion," I explained plainly. "Curiosity got the best of me so here I am…"

"Ah…" she nodded her head in understanding. "Hey um… I got a question for you if… you don't mind answering that is, because it's totally cool if you don't want to answer because I understand since… I mean-"

I raised my hand to stop her. "Deep breathes Ruby. Ask away, I don't mind."

"W-well seeing as how you're a team leader too… do you think that Weiss is right when she told me that I shouldn't be the leader? She said that I was too young, and a kid still and that I didn't deserve it at all. And that Professor Ozpin made a mistake in naming me as the leader…"

"…No."

Ruby eye's shot up from her feet to my golden-brown eyes.

"N-No?"

I sighed as I set my bag to the side. "Weiss is wrong because she's the type of girl that espouses my way or the highway."

Her face was fraught with confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"First, allow me to fix that mess called your hair." Honestly she looked ridiculous with her hair frazzled everywhere. "I don't have a comb on my so I'll have to make due. Don't move too much." Let's see if I still remember how to style a girl's hair like how I did with Miyu's.

"Weiss… believes that being a leader is about having the ability to issue commands to others. To be in control. She thinks it's about asserting control and having power over others when it's the furthest thing from what a leader is supposed to be. Do you know what it means to be a leader Ruby?"

I rifled my fingers gently through her hair; getting rid of the knots first, smoothening it out, and before finally styling it.

"Being a leader means you have a responsibility to yourself and to your teammates." I hummed aloud in thought. "Think of it as being an older sibling to them. You have to care for them, be considerate of what they feel and think, and act as the pillar of strength for them to rely on when it gets tough. Come good tidings or bad, you always need to be there for them."

Ruby's eyes sparkled innocently like a child's would.

My heart skipped at the sight… the look she gave me reminded me of Miyu…

I found my voice softening its tone as I continued further. "As a leader… you need a lot of patience with a strong will. No matter what, you can't give up and you keep on running even if everyone else around you tells you to stop."

"What if I can't keep on running?"

"If you can't run, then walk, if you can't walk, then crawl, but whatever you do Ruby; you keep moving forward. Even if everyone else gives up, you can't. You fight and you fight risking looking ugly and miserable, but at the end of the day… who in the world can laugh at you?"

There – her hair is finished at last looking significantly better than it did before.

Ruby thought so too as well apparently. "Hey Shirou," her fingers ran through her hair, "you're pretty good at this."

"The results of trial and error Ruby," I gestured with a wave. "I stumbled a lot in the beginning when I took care of my little sis…ter…"

"Wait… you have a sister?"

I blinked slowly, my eyes drifting away from hers.

My hand slowly closed and was brought back down to my side. A slip of the tongue. Something that I didn't mean to share.

"Yeah…"

"I didn't know that… explains why you know how to fix a girl's hair… Hey!" Her expression brightened up in excitement. "I didn't know you had a sibling too! What's she like huh? How old is she? Does she go to one of the other academies? Ooo-! Is she a younger sister?"

I smiled. A smile that was both patient yet pained.

"I'd… rather not talk about that right now, but if it's any consolation. I'm positive the two of you would have gotten along quite well."

"Ah- um… sorry I got carried away…"

I inhaled deeply before extolling it all away. "Anyways… we've only had literally a day since we were chosen to be leaders of our team. Weiss is crazy if she thinks that's any form of proper measurement to judge on how you actually lead. Give it time and simply strive to prove her wrong Ruby."

"Yeah that is true…"

"Well I need to get going and meet up with my team before they start worrying." I grabbed my bag and slung the straps over my shoulder.

"Thank you Shirou," she gave me a cute thumbs up. "I needed that… I swear I'll do my best! Not just as a leader, but as a person for myself and for my team!"

"Ha…" I ruffled her hair playfully, intentionally messing up all my hard work. Ruby didn't seem to mind it one bit.

"You know Yang thought you looked too serious and seemed the type to brood a lot, but I think… that she's a bit wrong about you."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, yeah!" she nodded eagerly with a million-watt smile. "You know…"

Hmm?

"Your sister is pretty lucky to have an older brother like you," she said out of nowhere. "Cool and says a lot of wise stuff! Kinda like my uncle!"

I inhaled sharply through my nose.

"Thanks… Ruby…"

I stepped around Ruby, towards the direction where Weiss should have headed.

"Wait!" the girl behind me called out. "Where are you going? The dining hall is the other way!"

I glanced over my shoulder.

"Don't worry, just taking the scenic route!" I flashed her a smirk. "I'll see you later Ruby."

Now… if I were a hot-headed, stuck up, pampered little princess. Where would I be go after harshly criticizing my leader?

I snapped my finger – of course… I'd see a teacher.

* * *

"Hey Weiss!" I waved at her. "Hold up!"

"Oh Shirou… it's you," she said with her usual dignified voice. "Do you need something from me?"

I fell into her stride quickly, keeping up with her pace. "Yeah, I was just wondering where you were headed for. Seems like you're in a bit of a hurry."

"Well if you must know," stopped Weiss, "I'm looking for Professor Port to ask him a very serious question."

I feigned ignorance at the situation. "About what?"

"Seeing as how you're the leader of a team, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to share. You see I believe that, I," she placed a hand on her chest, "should have been chosen as the leader of Team RWBY."

"Why?" I asked of her flatly.

"Why? Are you serious Shirou? Come on, even you can see why I would be a better leader."

I rolled my eyes. "Humor me."

"Ahem – because I am simply more qualified for the position than Ruby!"

I gestured with my hand for her to continue.

"I have the pedigree Shirou, the background, the training, everything! All of it to effectively be the best leader of a team! And you know who they give it to? Ruby Rose! Some kid who got lucky by graduating early! Like ugh – are you kidding me?" She huffed with indignation. "I deserved that position and you know it."

"Wouldn't Ruby graduating early mean that, in a way, she's more qualified than you to lead the team?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes- I mean no! Absolute not!" flushed Weiss. "Yes, she graduate early, but that still doesn't mean she has the experience! I have two years over her Shirou!" She held up two fingers to emphasize her point.

"So… doesn't that mean she was able to learn faster than you? Therefore, technically speaking, she's more capable as an individual overall compared to you."

Weiss's hands grabbed at the air in an attempt to wrap her head around the simple logic.

"She's a kid Shirou!"

I shook my head. "Technically so are we since the legal adult age is eighteen." That's what I think it is over here, I'm not sure, however I hope she doesn't notice it.

"Well… she's not mature like us yet!"

I sighed audibly at how pathetic this was. "Weiss, just admit it. You don't like Ruby for the fact that not only is she younger than you, but also gets to tell you what to do.""

Her cheeks went beet red. "Fine!" stomped Weiss. "It irritates me to no end that someone younger than me got to be leader and is telling me what to do! I'm annoyed that something I wanted so badly was given away to someone else! There, are you happy!?"

I sighed once more before flicking her forehead as she got too close for my own comfort. "You're being silly."

"Ouch! Hey that hurt Shirou!"

"Really?" I said with a smirk. "Weiss, don't you think you're being a bit stupid here? Ruby's only had a day. Just one whole day so far to prove herself as a leader. Don't you think that's a little unfair to her to judge her on so little? You're sounding more of a child than Ruby."

"How dare you!" She jabbed a finger at my chest repeatedly. "You don't know me."

"You're right. I don't know you, but I know enough so far to know that what you're doing is childish and inconsiderate about what your teammate, your friend, thinks. It's always ending up being about you, you, and you. You drone on and on about how you deserve the position as leader as if you were somehow entitled due to your background." I shook my head. "Sorry to say, but that's foolish."

Weiss visibly recoiled back a step.

"A lot of the times Weiss, we don't always get what we want and we have to accept that and make the best of the situation. If we all got what we wanted, then we'd all be happy with our lives…"

She bit her lip trying to form a measured response.

"Weiss… you can't just take without giving something of equal value in return."

The young heiress turned her head away. "So then… what is it about?"

"That's something for you to experience and learn rather than me just telling you. Your distrust of Ruby is unwarranted as she's yet to do anything to prove herself incapable of leading."

"B-But she kept telling me what to do!"

"I'm fairly certain that she wasn't trying to tell you what to do rather she was trying to give you helpful tips. Ruby's own special way of expressing concern for you as her teammate and… well as a friend." I shrugged. "Give her a chance, Ruby deserves that at the very least from you. The girl's just trying her best to not disappoint you or the others."

"B-But… I…"

"If you can't be the best leader then try to be the best teammate. Help her, don't block her, if you have all this experience and knowledge then use it to help Ruby. If you truly think you're the better person then you know what to do."

Her shoulders finally slumped in defeat. "I… I don't know what to say…"

Shifting the bag on my shoulder I make to leave the area to head back to the dining hall. I'm positive that my team is wondering where I've been for the past half-hour or so. Lunch should be finishing up soon too so I'll have to make it a quick one.

"All that's left is for you to make the amends. I can't help you any further."

"W-Wait! That's it? You're just going to leave? Aren't you supposed to give me some sort of encouraging comment or hopeful words?"

"Nah," I waved her off. "You're a grown up girl aren't you? Besides, I have to get back to my team." I lazily threw a half-hearted hand up as I left the area.

* * *

Walking at a sedated pace to the dining hall. I contemplated a bit over my decision to needlessly butt into privacy of Team RWBY's leadership problem. On one hand I probably should have left it to them to solve it on their own. They were capable people if they somehow managed to get into Beacon. Yet on the other hand it felt nice being to do something good.

Or… at least I think I did…

Something about seeing Ruby like that compelled me to at least lend a hand. The smile on her face was like a mirrored reflection of…

"Geez – I can't go around doing foolish things like that." I scratched my head in annoyance.

Pinching the bridge of my nose. "To be a hero…"

Those words from that girl…

"Grhk-!" I grunted as someone shoulder checks into me roughly.

"Hey! Watch where you're going idiot!" A boy with burnt-orange hair combed backwards leans forward threateningly. "Dumbass – you know who you're messin' with?"

I give him a once over and notice that he has his friends with him. From what it looks like, I'm sure that they are a part of the same year as me.

"Are you gonna apologize?" he growled.

I scoffed instead, making the decision to continue walking ahead to the dining hall. The doors were right there and if he wanted to pick a fight I'll be sure to put this hot-headed idiot onto his back.

"Hey boss, come on!" whispered one of his friends with a Mohawk. "Just let it go!"

"Hmph," sneered the leader. "This asshole better hope we don't get matched in combat class…" The way he tried to sound ominous honestly made me chuckle at the absurdity of it. A typical school bully trying to assert authority where he had none.

How silly.

Surely his time would be better spent training and practicing to not be considered Grimm feed.

"Hey Shirou! Over here!" motioned over Nora.

"I see Blake and Yang are here," I note out loud seeing the two females sitting across from my team. "Thanks for saving me a spot. It took a lot longer than I thought."

"Well hello to you too new guy," waved Yang.

"It's Shirou," I corrected flatly. "I thought we went over this."

"Yeah, yeah whatever." She didn't even bother to listen. "Anyways – have you seen Ruby or Weiss? We haven't seen them since we got out of Port's class."

I shrugged in response. "Don't know sorry. I'm sure they'll come around soon enough."

"So did you get what you were looking for Shirou?" asked Pyrrha.

"Ha… funny story," I chuckled. "You see I had it with me the entire time. I kept retracing my steps to see where I last lost it. Turns out it was in my bag the entire time."

Pyrrha smiled understandingly and laughed along. "A funny story indeed. Are you not having lunch?"

I propped my chin on top of my knuckles. "Mmm – not really hungry at the moment. Thanks for asking though…"

* * *

Ozpin sipped at his freshly brewed and hot coffee in his hands. Making sure to provide extra care to not burn himself nor spill the precious liquid. The gears turning in his office made a soft yet pleasing background noise as he worked.

A single file opened up on his monitor.

It displayed various information such as name, known aliases, date of birth, age, and other such things. He looked passed it all instead choosing to scroll all the way down to her most current up to date status.

"Hmm…"

He frowned visibly to himself.

The medical reports were worsening with each passing day. Even with their level of medicine and technology, it still was not enough to sustain her life anymore. The projection for her state of being shortened with every update.

"Not good," he murmured softly before sighing.

Taking off his spectacles, he massaged the bridge of his nose tiredly.

He closed the file after reading the rest of the standard updates and stared at his steaming cup of coffee. Not even his favorite choice of beverage was doing anything to alleviate the stress that mounted with each day.

Setting it down, he opened up two more files. A scrawl of information poured down the screen.

One had an extensive file and record detailing almost the entirety of their life. It was a catalog of every relevant thing she had accomplished so far in her life. From her first combat tournament to the very last. No data was left out in her dossier.

Turning his attention to the other file next to it. He couldn't help but compare to the two and snort. This one was so short that all it really had was a name, a picture, and a date of birth with a special mark around it to signify that it was only a measured date.

"I'm sorry Miss Nikos… no matter what we do it seems like you'll be dragged into this no matter what…"

He inhaled the wafting steam to relax his mind; savoring the smell as much as possible.

"…But at least you'll have someone with you along the way."

The unexpected guest.

The dark horse that he felt would undoubtedly emerge into prominence in one way shape or form someway into these series of events that have yet to unfold.

He turned away from his monitors in his seat to view the night sky.

A shattered moon greets him almost mournfully.

* * *

The dark ceiling of the room peers back at me as I stared up listlessly.

The soft rustling of the sheets grabs my attention briefly. Pyrrha adjusted herself so that she was sleeping on her side face towards my bed. There's a peaceful expression that she held while she slept.

Turning away, I rubbed my eyes before pushing off the covers.

It's the dead of night and sleep eludes me still. Maybe some fresh air will do me some good? Silently and carefully, I tiptoed around the room to make my way to the door; opening and closing it soundlessly.

From across the hall, Team RWBY's door was left slightly ajar.

I looked at it for a while before shaking my head deciding it's not worth the trouble. The lights were still on too so that must mean someone was still up at this hour as well. If I strained my ears enough I can make out a hushed conversation that sounded like Ruby and Weiss talking about something.

Hmm…

Maybe Weiss caved in and actually listened? Who knows? I wasn't about to go and stick my head in as I've already done as much as I possibly could. After that it was all up to them on how they should go forward together as a team and as… friends…

Sighing whilst shaking my head.

Opening the door to the roof. My face was greeted to a healthy dose of a cold nightly air splashing against me.

The roof was quite open leaving a lot of room if anyone wanted to train or practice up her by themselves. Maybe even room for two to spar if they chose to use this spot.

Setting myself down at the edge. I peered upwards to the night sky for the second time in this world. That moon that's partially shattered felt unsettling for some unknown reason. A large portion of its body dislodged, broken and displaced into several floating fragments that were still kept together by its gravity alone.

"Hard to believe that I'm in another world Miyu…"

The clouds slowly rolled in covering a large portion of the planetary body. Darkening the already black night. Even so the stars in the background still shined brightly in contrast. They didn't let the cloud themselves impede their actions.

While it's not the same thing that I grew accustomed to watching with Kiritsugu, and then Miyu, on countless nights.

Hopes and wishes casted out unto the starry sky on those fateful nights…

"…I think you would've liked these stars even more than the ones back home…"

Exhaling slowly – I took solace in the quietness of it all. It'd be another hour or so before I made my way back inside.

* * *

Slipping back under my covers, I pulled back up the sheets to my neck and settled into the bed with a comfortable sigh. Just as I began to slowly close my eyes. A soft whisper of my name to my right keeps them open for a little longer.

"Shirou…?"

I turn my head towards the voice. I wasn't as quiet as I had hoped to be. Pyrrha's vibrant green eyes pierced through the darkness of the room.

"Are you… okay? I heard you leave earlier."

"Hmm? I just went to get some fresh air," I answered back in a hushed tone. "Don't worry…"

Closing my eyes still didn't get rid of the feeling of her gaze that lingered on for a few more moments. What a persistent girl… her concern for my wellbeing was duly noted but not needed especially for someone like me.

"If… you say so…"

"Goodnight Pyrrha."

"…goodnight Shirou."

* * *

Author's Notes: A rewrite of chapter 3. While this chapter didn't exactly needed a rewrite, I still felt that there were a couple things that could be addressed better and to flow easier with the recent rewrites of chapter 1 and 2.

Shirou still retains his older brother sentimentality for Ruby, but is a lot more callous and brusque with Weiss. He leaves her on her own to figure things out because since she's the one that got herself into that position, she needs to be able to get out of it on her own as well. It sticks with his character that Nasu set a while back through word of god.

This cleans up Ruby and Shirou's little talk. Sets up the inevitable conflict with another person for the next chapter. And slightly throttles back on the acceleration of the story to a slower pace compared to the initial prologue. Several things are set up, which are painfully obvious, and we begin the slow countdown to future events.

Anyways – I hope you all enjoyed this rewrite!

Please leave a review of your thoughts on the chapter! Tell me how it went and what you think! Also feel free to privately message whenever! I'll try and get back to you fast as usual!

Word count before A/N: 8,886


	4. The Sword that Bares Its Fangs

_Chapter 4_

 _The Sword that Bares Its Fangs_

* * *

 **Important** : _I rewrote Chapters 1 through 3. I_ _ **highly**_ _recommend that you re-read them as it drastically changes the flow and tonal setting of the story between the main characters and supporting cast. There were many things that I changed. This is the only time I'll ever leave a note at the beginning of a chapter._

* * *

"Hah…"

A mixture of an irritated and tired sigh.

Casting my gaze to the side. My teammates were blissfully asleep under the comforts of their sheets. It was almost five in the morning after all. I'd still be sleeping in just for a little longer, but it seems like I'm still struggling to _adapt_ to this new world.

The feeling can be likened to waking up in a bizarre world that felt familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.

I rubbed my face tiredly with both of my hands. Not getting any sleep annoyed me to no end as the pervasive feeling of exhaustion skirt along the border of my mind. The body begged for rest, but the mind resisted against all notion for sleep.

What an aggravating position to be in…

I liked waking up early, but this was just plain ridiculous.

"Might as well clean up and do some work," I mumbled discreetly to myself. I took extra care not to disturb the other people in the room as I gathered my meager belongings to head to the washroom.

Maybe a nice, long, and warm shower will do some good for my consciousness? Relax the body and you relax the mind…

…or so they say.

* * *

When Pyrrha awoke at her usual time that stemmed due to years of training; her eyes blinked several times as a neatly folded bed was the first thing that greeted her eyes in the morning. The clock on their shared nightstand told her it was half past five. Her usual time of awakening to start the day.

That meant he had gotten up way before she did.

The covers slid off of her lithe body when she sat upright. The second thing that greeted her sight for the day was a lone light dimly turned on at one of the desks. He sat up straight in his chair. The soft sound of a pen on paper with the occasional turn of the page filtered into her ears.

Her taciturn leader had already started off his day.

She peered on with growing respect at his commitment to both his education and his role as a leader. Something like that can only be thought highly of regarding to his accountability along with responsibility. It's as they say, it is often easier said than done.

Her feet touched the thin, cold carpet.

"Good morning Shirou."

* * *

So engrossed with my work that I failed to realize that someone was standing behind me a few steps back. Just enough to where she could peer over my shoulder to view what I was working on at the moment.

I turned my head slightly around.

"Ah, good morning to you too Pyrrha."

A small beautiful smile is returned causing me to gulp a little at the sight of it. The grip on the pen tightened a bit before relaxing in the span of a second. "Sorry if I woke you up or anything…"

"No, no!" she waves in a placating manner. "I usually wake up around this hour to start my day."

I hummed along before returning back to my studies.

Her feet shuffles quietly along the carpeted floor. "Shirou?" I turn back. "Would you like to… accompany me for a morning run?" She had already changed out of her bed clothing into some outfit for exercise.

"Hmm," I debated internally over it shortly. "I think… I'll have to pass on this one. I already cleaned up too." It would be redundant to shower, exercise and work up a sweat, and then shower once more. "I have some planning and scheduling that I'd like to get out of the way before anything else, but thanks for the invite."

Pyrrha appeared crestfallen for a slight second that was quickly picked up with a small smile. "No problem," there's a twinge of disappointment in her voice.

"Sorry..." It didn't sound very sincere at all coming from me.

"No," she shakes her head softly, "I understand completely. I'll be back shortly."

The redhead slipped on her shoes and promptly left, leaving me and my other two sleeping teammates in the room.

I sighed, using the butt of the pen to scratch the side of my head. "Maybe I should've accepted the offer…" Picking up the phone on the desk, I swipe around checking for an update of any kind only to be left feeling a little disparaged. "Of course there's no updates you idiot," I mutter to myself. "It's only been two days since you got here."

Back to work for now until everyone wakes up.

* * *

I patiently sipped at my tea in the dining hall as a mild chaotic event erupted to the left. Taking a moment to waft in the aroma, I'm left feeling grateful for the quality of tea that Beacon afforded to its students. They certainly do not skimp out on their selection and choices.

On reflex I covered my cup as bits of pancake flew about. Nora, to the side, voraciously dug into her breakfast with extra gusto.

I sneaked a peek as she hate stacks upon stacks of hotcakes.

How much can this girl eat? Who could love a food so much that they could serve to fill a company of grown adults? For just this moment, let's forget about the mysteries of the world, the Holy Grail, or even how I wound up here in the first place. I want to know how this orange haired teammate of mine could pack in all those carbs efficiently without a sign of weight gain.

I swear – the hardest questions are often the ones that we ask ourselves…

"Nora," I coughed. She turned her head with a piece of pancake still hanging out of her mouth. "Mind your manners – take your time eating, it's not going anywhere and you'll enjoy it a lot more…" She responded with a salute that had a fork in her hand. "…also use a napkin please."

Nora inhaled the piece in her mouth. Even resorting to beating on her chest a couple of times to get it down. "You got it leader!"

Ren leaned over with a grateful look on his face mouthing thank you.

"So who's excited for combat class?" asked Yang with a smirk. "Who do ya think is gonna kick the most butt?"

Team RWBY sat across from my team as they ate their breakfast.

"Ooh! Me! Me!" waved an excited Ruby. "I can't wait to officially show off Crescent Rose to the class! It's gonna be so cool! Plus we get to see everyone's weapons and fighting styles! I wonder what I'm going to see later! Ugh-! I can't wait!"

I hid a small grin at how exuberant the youngest girl here is.

The Combat Readiness Assessment Test, or CRAT for short. A weeklong form of evaluation where students are placed in a one-on-one combat scenario to see where everyone measures against each other.

Hopefully with this I'll gain a better understanding of how Aura and Semblances functioned. Know their strengths, their weaknesses, and analyze how they fought. The words of that priest whispered in the back of my mind. As creepy as he may be, he had words of wisdom for a man of the cloth.

"Shirou, you don't look like you're awfully excited here compared to everyone else." Yang pointed out. "Even Pyrrha and Ren seem like they're looking forward to it."

"Blake looks just as indifferent about it," I replied. Why's she singling me out of everyone else here?

"Nah, that's just Blake being Blake. She's too busy reading her smut that she think's no one notices." Blake's bow twitched forward for a split second that made one of my eyebrows rise. What was that? "Heh – don't worry girl, no need to be ashamed." A silly grin plastered on the blonde's face as she elbowed the dark haired girl.

"Yeah Shirou!" Damn it Ruby, don't enable your sister. "I've seen everyone's weapons so far except for yours! What is it anyways? Where do you keep it? Is it cool? Or… maybe it's lame? I mean," she brought her hands up, "I mean that's totally fine since _all_ weapons are cool in my book hehe…"

I grunted at the barrage of questions. "Maybe I don't actually have one?"

"Nope! I don't believe you Shirou! So what is it? A gun? Or maybe like a sword? You seem like to be the type that uses a sword." I held back an ironic laugh at that. I'll just let her keep guessing as the face she made with each guess was rather both amusing and cute.

"Don't worry Ruby," I cut her off midway in one of her guesses. "You'll see when combat class rolls around. Until then you'll just have to wait." I winked with a tiny smirk.

"Ugh," she groaned. "I hate waiting and I hate guessing! Please just tell me Shirou!"

"Nope."

Ruby slumped forward. "So mean…"

I smiled serenely with my cup in hand. "Someday Ruby, you'll learn that patience is a virtue."

Yang stuck a finger in her ear pretending to clean it out. "Geez Shirou, you sound like our old man Qrow here."

"I'll… take that as a compliment?"

"It wasn't one."

I gave her a flat stare and turned away.

I swear this girl… something about blondes irked me in one way or another. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that both Yang and Angelica shared the same hair color and that one of them thoroughly trashed me around like I was a ragdoll.

"Pfft – Hahaha!"

The sound of mocking laughter fills the dining hall. It grabbed our attention, directing our vision to the front entrance.

A group of four guys, another team it looks like, were openly harassing a group of Faunus students as they passed by them. I immediately recognize one of them with his burnt orange-hair slicked back. He was the loudest among the four of them. He laughed so hard that he slapped his knee at how his partner pranced around, mocking one of the students with horns.

The sudden tonal shift in mood in the air felt unsettling. Everything went from rather jovial and cheery to tense and awkward on a dime.

The harassed students ducked, covering their heads and animal features in a vain attempt to stave off the growing shame they were feeling.

My grip on the ceramic handle squeezed tightly.

"Simply atrocious," lowly muttered Pyrrha. "We're supposed to be better than that yet people like them are here…" She glared openly at all of them with clear distaste.

It must undoubtedly be disheartening for those students who come here seeking equality and fairness only to encounter the same vitriol and racism out in the real world.

"I think… we better get going," announced an uncomfortable Weiss. Her voice sounding shaky and nervous. "Class with Doctor Oobleck will be starting soon so we wouldn't want to be late for that."

As we all picked up our belongings to leave. I made sure to keep note of the guy's face that bumped into me yesterday. A funny gut feeling told me that I was going to be encountering more of him later on today.

"Yeah… let's get going."

* * *

History and Archaeology with Profe-

Correction.

 _Doctor_ Bartholomew Oobleck.

My eyes shift right and left as he zipped back and forth, to and fro, from one side of the lecture hall the other. His left hand held a wooden pointer while the right hand carried a steaming hot mug of what I can only guess to be highly concentrated coffee. When he was close enough, I took an investigative sniff that caused my face to crinkle in slight disgust.

No introduction speech. No lesson plans. Nothing. He threw us all into the first lesson immediately.

The current lesson for this class was covering over the civil rights movement of the Faunus race half a century back.

It seems like no matter what universe, dimension, or time, that humanity isn't able to get along with itself or with others even in the face of certain extinction. Always being in some sort of perpetual state of unrest and violence. Always reaching and striving for that ever distant utopia of peace. The age old rhyme and song danced by humans.

"Indeed! As you can see prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, colloquially known as the Faunus War, humankind was very, very and I repeat _very_ adamant in managing and centralizing all Faunus population into this island here," his pointer smacked loudly against a specific spot on a map, "called Menagerie!"

He took a large gulp from his mug before continuing. "For some, this may seem like ancient history!" Another swig. "But it is incredibly imperative for you all to remember that these are actually recent events that happened no less than fifty years ago!"

By this point I'm unable to discern whether he's yelling due to the caffeine rush or simply because this is how he is as an individual. "The repercussions of the uprising can still be felt and seen to this day! Now my question is posed directly to the students that are of Faunus descent! Do any of you have first-hand experience of being discriminated due to how you look?"

I gently set my pen down for a moment to cross my arms over my chest as a few tentative hands slowly rose into the air.

As I scanned the class, my eyes catch Blake going stiff as a board for a brief second before she returned to her default expression. That typical, cool and reserved look flittered heavily with confliction that if I wasn't looking I would have missed it. The black bow on top of her head twitched again ever so slightly.

I blinked, clicking my tongue. It's highly likely that Blake herself is a Faunus that's hiding her features. Her bow moving independently as her amber eyes shifted around nervously gave it away to anyone who paid attention.

"Terrible!" He stomped his foot. "Absolutely, down right horrific! Prejudice due to ignorance is dreadful! This is exactly why we must remember history lest we are doomed to repeat our mistakes! Ignorance begets hate! Hate begets violence!" His tone turned deathly serious. The caffeine rushed lecture gone in an instant as he talked slower. "My dear students… I want you to listen to me very closely. _Nothing_ in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. Things like that are how people get hurt or even worse… killed."

The eyes behind his spectacles bore into every single student.

"If you need an example then look at what has become of the White Fang. A once stalwart, benign organization whose goal was once peaceful coexistence and equality turned into a radical and violent group that's hell bent on causing pain and suffering to both sides."

The White Fang.

The way he briefly mentioned them along with the class's general reaction to their name sounded ominous. They must've done a lot of things over the years to garner such a negative and fearful reputation. I can only imagine what that group did in response to their treatment over the years. As long as there's an action be it positive or negative, there will always be a reaction and that's the course it took.

"But I digress!" He poured himself another cup from his thermos. "Going forward, which one of my luminous young scholars can provide me the answer too what many historians believe to be the most critical moment in the third year of the revolution?"

Weiss's hand shot up in the air first. "It was the Battle of Fort Castle sir!"

"Correct!" happily bounced Oobleck. "Now, now who can tell me the advantage the Faunus forces held over General Lagune's army that gave them the victory?"

"…!..."

I leant over to the right just in time as a wadded paper ball harmlessly flew by my head. The object bounced onto my desk and onto the floor. I turned around in slight annoyance at whoever threw it at me.

My mind immediately recognizes the burnt orange-haired teen from before who grinned dumbly in amusement like a monkey who thought it was funny to fling his own shit. His two feet lazily propped up on the desk with no care or respect to the current lecture. This guy must be trying his absolute best to irritate me.

If anything… it's slowly working since I haven't slept well.

"Mister Shirou! Excellent of you to volunteer!"

What? I turned back to the instructor. No- wait! I was just… ah damn it… alright.

"So… what is the answer my precocious and reserved friend?" He adjusted his glasses, getting up close to my desk all of a sudden.

I took a moment to mull over the information that I've been cramming into my head since I arrived here.

"Faunus… are commonly known to have nigh perfect vision in the dark." By the nodding of his head I was on the right track. "General Lagune's inexperience coupled with his overconfidence in super numbers goaded him to attack the opposing force at night. Overlooking that knowledge, he led his forces straight into a trap where he was swiftly defeated by a prepared Faunus army."

"Well done young man!" clapped Oobleck. "A well thought out explanation! I couldn't have said it better myself."

The boy behind me that flicked the wad of paper at me snorted derisively. "Course the weirdo would know."

"Hm… of course the woefully ignorant would mutter something as incessant as that…"

"You say something?" he shot up angrily.

"Oh? I'm sorry," I replied sardonically. "I didn't know being ignorant also meant having your hearing impaired."

"You want to say that to my fists?"

"And now we're speaking two different languages apparently." I rolled my eyes. In for a penny, in for a dollar this point. "Which one do you need? A hearing aid or a translator? Wait, don't worry. I'm pretty good at interpreting charades so if you need to dance around idiotically like your friend then by all means go ahead."

He was about to jump forward when a stern voice shot out.

"Mister Winchester! Mister Emiya! That's well enough!" he snapped at the two of us. "Unless you want to continue this in detention then I suggest the two of you stop."

I bowed to the teacher in repent. "Apologies Doctor Oobleck, I was out of line."

He pushed up the bridge of his glasses. "That's uh… quite alright! Please sit, you," he points at Cardin, "Stay up. Would you like to add in anything _meaningful_ to Mister Emiya's answer?"

He glared at me. "Yeah I got something to add alright," Cardin said testily. "My dad told me that it's far easier to train a filthy animal than an actual soldier."

"You're not the most… open-minded of individuals are you Cardin," openly announced Pyrrha. "Faunus _are_ people you know?"

"Pfft," he sputtered, "People? Ha – good joke _Invincible Girl_ , but not to me they aren't."

"Maybe if General Lagune had paid attention in class, history wouldn't remember him as such a failure," added Blake who sat next to Pyrrha. "Then again history tends to repeat itself so perhaps you're just going to be another Lagune."

"Ooo! You better take that or-"

"Ahem," coughed Oobleck. "Or else _what_? Mister Winchester?" The teacher had enough, deciding now to put his foot down on the matter that was getting out of control. He shook his head while walking up the steps to Cardin. "Terrible… simply terrible and highly ignorant. Mister Cardin," he clicked his tongue, "I'm afraid that I'm going to ask you to stay after class with me to talk about your behavior and to plan for remedial lessons in the future. It seems I have my work cut out for me."

"What? This is bullshit! You're punishing me because I'm voicing my opinions?!"

"Language Mister Winchester… freedom of speech does not imply freedom of consequences." His arms crossing his chest as he explained further. "Beacon Academy is about equality and freedom from persecution no matter who… or what they are. Rest assured… Professor Goodwitch will be hearing about this later. Now sit. Back. Down."

Cardin balled up his hands before giving in to the lecturer's authority. He mumbled something darkly to himself that I wasn't able to make out clearly. Whatever it was, it didn't sound all that well.

"Now!" Doctor Oobleck walked back to the front of his desk. "We're moving onto the next topic! Pens and papers back out!"

* * *

"Ha…!" I muffled a yawn into my hand.

The lack of sleep started to show its effects outwardly. I started to yawn heavily and more often about halfway through the class. Glancing upwards at a clock in the hallway. I wasn't even finished with the day yet as we were now on lunchbreak before the last class in the afternoon.

Damn it – I should've just forced myself to sleep or tried harder.

I'll just have to keep myself busy. "Hey," I called out to my team. "I need to stop by the library to pick some things up. I'll meet you three later in the dining hall."

"More stuff again Shirou? You sure you're not being forgetful like yesterday?" teased Nora. "Did ya check your bag this time to be sure?"

"Haha…" I rolled my eyes. "No Nora, I actually need to find something that'll help our team. I got something in mind…"

"Oh a secret? Tell us Shirou!"

"Nothing concrete just yet so you'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"Alrighty then leader!" saluted Nora. "We'll save ya a seat at our usual table! I think Team RWBY is gonna sit with us again! C'mon Renny, let's get going before the line gets too long!" She tugged on his sleeves, dragging him off with her as he protested all the while.

"Wait Nora! You don't have to drag meee-!"

A small grin cracks through my visage. I have a feeling that those two were made for each other. I guess opposites really do attract.

"Hmm?" Pyrrha was still here standing off to the side. "Not going with them?"

"No – you wouldn't mind if I tagged along with you?"

"Ah… sure…"

Her normal calm and composed demeanor perturbed, albeit slightly, by what had happened in class today. It irked her more than it did for me.

Wordlessly we set off for the library with Pyrrha closely beside me on my left. Entering the massive building, I craned my neck all around to scan the rows and sections of books that towered over me. The further we went, the more students I could see gathered around playing board games, studying, or were simply socializing with one during their break.

Another glance at her made me decide to ask her what's on her mind.

"A penny for your thoughts?" I said without prying my eyes off the shelves.

"You know…" she starts off. "I really want to break his legs."

I pulled my head out of the bookshelf in bewilderment at how serious she sounded. The way her green eyes practically radiated as they stared into my golden brown ones felt surreal. "Over what he said?"

"Not just that, it's also how he can so callously disrespect the other students that are Faunus as well." She breathed in deeply. "It's disgusting…"

The book snapped shut loudly in my hands catching her attention. "Don't work yourself up. Let the fool be a fool. It's bound to catch up to him in one way or another." I shared the same sentiments as her, but chose to not be vocal about it.

"…You're right, so what is it that you're checking out?" Her eyes curiously investigated. "A book about Aura and Semblance? Shirou, did your former school not teach you about those things?"

Of course not since those things didn't exist where I came from. While some can say they can be comparable, it can only be done loosely as they are respectively subjected to different rules.

"They did… but this is something to just refresh my mind before I go through with what I have in store. Never hurt to be prepared right?"

"True," agreed Pyrrha. "That's very astute of you."

Walking back to the checkout desk near the entrance. We came up on a small section dedicated to books about astronomy. I stopped in between one of the massive shelves and made a detour into them.

"Shirou?"

I wonder…

Gliding my fingers against the binders. I plucked out one book in particular that stood out to me. Flipping through the pages, a smile crept up the corners of my lips before snapping the book shut.

"Found another one?" commented the redhead. "A book about astronomy… I didn't peg you to be the type of person interested in that."

"Just a little bit," I grinned at her. "It's nice to know what you're looking at in the night sky."

"What got you into it?"

My grin faltered. I turned away.

"My sister."

"You have a… sister?" she asked for confirmation.

"Yeah… had one…" Or is it have? It's only been two days since I've wound up in this world. I'm not sure if Miyu is here or the Holy Grail spirited her off to somewhere else instead. Just guesswork and postulations that amounted to nothing in the grand scheme of things.

"I'm sorry I-"

"Its fine, no need to apologize. I'd rather not talk about it right now. Let's go get these books of mine checked out and meet up with Ren and Nora."

I exhaled a tired breath out to the side. Waiting in line for my turn, I can't help but shake this tired feeling off. At some point in time in the near future I would have to come to a decision. Do I confess and come clean to my teammates or take the secrets that I have with me to the grave?

The expression that Pyrrha gave to me spoke of genuine concern twisted my cold heart.

I felt undeserving for having someone like her as my teammate and as a friend. Caring, respectful, kind and altruistic to a fault. An invaluable friend that many others would desire to have in their life. Yet here she was with someone like me.

…I'll make things right somehow, someway. Even if I fumble and make a hundred more mistakes I'm bound to get it right at some point.

* * *

"Oww!" cried a girl. "That really hurts!" An accented voiced. "Please, stop!"

Opening the doors to the dining hall. Pyrrha and I are greeted to an insufferable sight of Cardin tugging on a Faunus girl's ears. Bunny ears to be precise. A plain brunette with modest length hair with a face that's particularly easy on the eyes.

The hall fell into an unbearable silence as all the students in the vicinity simply watched on as Cardin continued picking on her. Was it due to the shock that someone was actually harassing another student due to their race? Or perhaps it was that it's done so blatantly that they're still trying to come to grips that such a thing was happening before them?

Either way – it stops here.

"Idiocy truly knows no bounds," I said loudly to catch his attention. "I see you've stepped up from vocal harassment to physical harassment. A natural order of progression for someone like you… or is that regression?"

"You again," he turned with the girl still in hand, not completely forgotten. "The Faunus-loving bastard that got me in trouble with Oobleck."

"You again, the moronic fop that thinks he's tough for picking on a girl."

"You think you're so smart with your words don't you, you little cretin." The girl yelped in pain at her ears begging pulled on once more. "Not gonna be smart anymore after I'm done punching your lights out."

My eyes glance towards her discomforted face with sympathy. "How about you let the girl go first."

"How about you make me." For emphasis he tugged upwards on her ear causing me to frown.

"You really don't want to do that."

"Ha," he laughed. "Or else what? What are you going to do punch me?"

I sighed. I turned to Pyrrha with a sad smile all the while shaking my head. "It's always the same thing with people like him, don't you agree?"

I dropped my bag and did just that.

My fist smashed squarely into his face bowling him backwards into his team that stood supportively behind. A collective gasp rings out across the hall. I held back from wincing at my now throbbing knuckles. I felt like I just punched a sheet of metal.

"Y-You!" he points. "You punched me!" His other hand held face in pain. The tangled mass of limbs and bodies clumsily attempted to get back up.

"What?" I smirked. "You're the one that suggested it."

"You little bitch! I'm gonna-"

"-leave the hall right _now_." I finished for him with a glare. "I want you and your friends out of here or else I'll do a lot more than just punch you."

"L-Like what?" All show of bravado gone in an instant as a few of them backed away fearfully leaving their leader out in front all by himself. At the first sign of resistance they've already showed who they really are. Just a moment ago they were all jeering and laughing together; now they were of the opposite.

Cowards, all of them.

"…that depends." My tone, frigid like the arctic wind. "If you take that step forward then I'm willing to accept the consequences that comes with putting you in your place."

"B-Boss…" whimpered one of his teammates. "…we, we should really leave."

"Yeah… I-I think we need to go…"

They collectively rallied, voicing their concerns to retreat and save face.

Cardin took that step back. Unwilling to go through with his course of action. His resolve weak and flimsy like that of his morals.

"You…"

"Yes _me_."

"You and me. Combat Class," challenged Cardin. His team backed away around to the other side with their faces geared towards me still. "I'll show you what happens when you mess with a Winchester."

"A fight against a third-rate huntsman like you? This'll be a walk in the park…"

* * *

"T-Thank you," said a meek brunette. "You saved me."

"It was nothing."

I returned for my bag.

By the time I get to my next class. I'm positive the entire school will have heard of this incident. Faculty and staff included. I'm also positive that I'll be hearing this from either Professor Goodwitch or Ozpin. With my luck? It'll be both.

"The name's Velvet," introduced the bunny-eared Faunus. "Velvet Scarlatina."

"Shirou," I responded with a curt nod.

"Not many people will go out of their way to help a Faunus."

"I'm not most people."

"I know," she smiled. "You're a real hero."

I blinked once. And then twice.

A hero huh?

There it is again… that word.

I ran a hand through my hair. The girl gave her thanks once more before taking her leaving off to somewhere else. Probably to go find her friends or teammates.

"Shirou?"

I turned to Pyrrha who stood off to the side practically glowing in approval that's mixed with concern.

"Are you alright?"

I huffed an amused breath. "I'm fine. Cardin's not, wouldn't you agree?"

"Indeed – it looked like you gave him a solid blow to his face." Then she grinned. "Although I think you should've twisted your body more and followed through with the punch instead of stopping short. You'll find it a lot more satisfying when you hit someone."

"Speaking from experience?"

That grin turned into a coy smile. "In more ways than one… yes."

"Ha… I see. I'll be sure to remind myself that next time I punch someone." My stomach softly rumbled. "Care for some lunch now that it's over?"

"Lead the way Shirou!"

* * *

Coming into Combat Class later on. I strode in with purpose. A goal that I saw before me that I wanted actualized.

I was right in my assumption that the news of the incident in the dining hall spread like wildfire throughout the school rapidly. By now, almost everyone had most likely heard what had happened between me and Team CRDL's leader. So used to Homurahara Academy being such a ghost town during my tenure that it all felt strange being in a massive and well-populated school that I forgot how fast gossip can travel through word of mouth.

"Welcome everyone," addressed Glynda Goodwitch. "As you all know from the syllabus that was handed out prior. Everyone will be participating in the Combat Readiness Assessment Test to see where you stand among your peers and where we will need to focus on to prepare you for the world out there."

A tap on her tablet brought down a monitor at one of the ends of the large coliseum like arena.

"These monitors will display your Aura status and basic profile. I will be watching closely when you fight and will stop the match by my discretion if things become out of hand." The monitors flittered to life with a vibrant hue showing all the students in the class at present. Cardin's name in particular caught my eye. "Remember that everything is designed to not only help you, but your team as well as you develop together over the next four years here at Beacon."

Glynda pushed up the bridges of her glasses. "I also want to take this moment to remind everyone that Combat Class is _not_ a place for you to settle your arguments and petty squabbles over mundane things. We are here to teach you how to survive against encounters you might face in real life and develop your fighting capabilities against the creatures of Grimm and other individuals."

I narrowed my eyes at her words of caution.

Either she knew about what happened or this was just a pre-prepared speech that she gave at the start of every year for new students. It's probably a mix of either though seeing as how she wasn't looking directly at me or Cardin.

"If you have a problem with someone over something then I _highly_ suggest that you come to a faculty member or staff to address your problems. We will handle it discretely and properly like civilized people." The sheer authority in her voice was like a rule of steel. There were no arguments to be made about it. "If I catch anyone attempting to do the aforementioned then I hope you're prepared to meet the consequences."

Fine by me. I'm not afraid to break a few eggs to make an omelet.

"With that said, who would like to volunteer to be the first combatants of the semester?"

My hand and Cardin's shot up at the same time before anyone else's.

"Shirou Emiya and Cardin Winchester, please gear up and step down to the arena."

Since I didn't have any gear to call my own nor did I have an actual weapon to get I stepped down in lieu of going to the locker room.

"Mister Emiya?"

"Yes ma'am?" I unbuttoned the jacket, vest, and took off the tie. Folding them neatly in a pile off to the side and rolled up my sleeves in preparation.

She paused, blinking momentarily. "Where is your… weapon?"

"Right…" _Trace, on_ "…here."

Kanshou – one of the married twin swords representing yin and yang that's favored by the Heroic Spirit EMIYA. A black Yang sword, covered in a red hexagonal pattern that, while ranked low, provided experience and low tracing time making them incredibly reliable to use.

Glynda appeared to be unfazed by the display. "Very well then…"

Cardin chose this moment to walk out with a swagger in his steps. Clad from head to toe in armor with a massive mace resting on his shoulders must've made him feel safe. His chest puffed out in pride as his family emblem emblazoned on his chest for all to see.

I want to rip that armor off and crush it.

"Are the two combatants ready?" We both nodded. He emphasized his point by dropping the mace's head onto the flooring, completely shattering the ground. "The fight may now begin."

The moment she vacated the floor was when Cardin opened up his mouth.

"You're going to get what's coming to you punk. That dinky little sword of yours is gonna get smashed into pieces."

"Start the fight already…"

"I'm gonna take my time beating your face in until the teacher stops me." This guy loves talking and hearing his own voice.

I responded with a grim expression.

I structurally analyzed his weapon down to the bone. A simple overweight mace with a mechanism to release stored explosive Red Dust held within the cavity of the head. It only had a maximum of five charges before it needed to be reloaded. Heavy to use, over encumbering, but suited for a brute like Cardin.

"The hell is with that look?" He brandishes his weapon threateningly. "That face tells me you think you're better than me."

"I just think… _you're not suited to be a huntsman_."

That set him off.

He roared out, heaving his mace high above his head and charged.

My enemy closes in, but I remain calm, focusing inward to myself.

" _I am the bone of my sword._ "

Prana flows into my magical circuits, reinforcing the entirety of my body.

He ran blindly head first into the fray without looking.

* * *

"What the hell is Shirou doing? He's just standing there!"

"He's so full of openings too!"

"Move Shirou move! The fight's started!"

Pyrrha looked on with a critical eye, choosing not to voice her opinions just yet. Team RWBY, along with Nora, was doing most of that anyways. There was some cause for concern, but she could tell it was unneeded by how his body coiled in response. That subtle movement a telltale sign of what was about to happen. It also helped that he practically glowed as lines, almost like circuitry, radiated to life.

When Cardin got into range with a smashing overhead blow. It's parried away to the left. His forward momentum too great to stop as Shirou crashed a roundhouse kick into Cardin's temple sending a sickening squelch into the air.

The way it sounded even made her wince slightly.

Cardin staggered to the side. Stunned by the sudden blow from the left. He swung his mace haphazardly to create space.

Shirou, instead of stepping away from the clumsy attack, chose to step forward into his enemy's guard. He raised his sword, blocking the weapon just below the head of the mace. With its relatively smooth, linear surface, he scraped his blade along the path sending sparks and bits of hot metal into his opponent's eyes effectively blinding him.

It sent him stumbling back. Cardin grasping at his eyes at the shock of pain even though his Aura protected him from any damage.

Flailing wildly about left him open for an elbow thrust into the solar plexus, blasting him several meters back.

Cardin roared out in frustration. Charging in headstrong once more without care nor thought into his battle plan. He struck out for an opening on the left. An assured hit that should've connected due to it being a relatively blind area.

A resounding clang fills the arena air as it's blocked.

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes.

Like a thrust of black lightning. Shirou's arm snapped out, blocking the offending blow and sending one of his own back to Cardin. It cleanly connected, propelling his foe back again.

"What…?"

Indeed – what?

That was a preemptive strike. A counter for an attack that hadn't yet fully actualized yet it's blocked with impunity.

Going with the motion, Cardin whirled his arm once for an uppercut that Shirou stepped away from. He brings it back down for another blow.

He stepped into it. Spinning his black short blade in his right hand. He lodged it into the cavity of Cardin's weapon and twisted.

"-!?"

Cardin's eyes widened at the action. He tried budging his weapon free, but it's no use. It's jammed in there good. His strength weaker than his enemy's.

In one clean motion, Shirou pulled up, violently ripping the mace out of Cardin's hands and landed another roundhouse kick into Cardin's face. A sheen of Aura visibly dispelled as he flew in the air, tumbling and harshly landing on his back.

However – Shirou wasn't finished yet. He made a gesture with his hands, creating more of the same swords out of thin air. Motes of blue light dancing around his form. With a wave of his hands, they're shot at Cardin's supine form at blinding speeds. The swords bit into the ground, pinning his clothes against the smooth, tiled concrete floor.

"They're… so beautiful…" whispered an enchanted Ruby.

"Oh, my little sister like's a guy's sword eh?" nudged a teasing Yang. When she didn't illicit a response, Yang waved her hand. "Uh… Ruby? Lil sis?"

"Yang." The elder sister dropped her usual gags at how sorrowful Ruby sounded. "They're so beautiful, but… how come they look so… lonely…"

Pyrrha drank in the sight before her. An image of black and white swords. Of feeling something that was missing. An integral part of a person that wasn't there.

What was it?

* * *

Being pinned to the ground meant he had no chance of escaping unless I dismissed the swords.

I picked up Cardin's mace in front of me and began walking towards him at a sedated pace. The professor had yet to call the fight for some reason or another, but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Every step that I took echoed out audibly in the amphitheater.

Cardin threw his gaze upwards disdainfully before realizing the position that he was in. He struggled against the swords momentarily in a vain attempt to escape, but it's a fruitless endeavor and he gave up.

"H-Hey man, you won! You won," he repeats, "and I lost! W-What the hell is that look?!"

He's stonewalled with silence.

"I-If it's about earlier today, I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean any of it!"

I raised his own weapon against him.

"Let's talk about this man! What are you doing?! I'm bad, you're good, you won and now you give me that whole talk right?! Right!?"

"If you're expecting that from me than you're sorely mistaken."

"Mister Emiya," Professor Goodwitch's stern voice calls out to me.

"Yes Professor?" I turned my head to her.

"The fight is over. You are the victor of this match so please step away from Mister Winchester…" she ordered calmly.

I smiled sardonically. "Of course Professor Goodwitch."

Cardin exhaled in relief before opening his eyes and gasping in sheer terror. He screamed out several octaves higher than normal. "AHHHH!"

I brought the mace down in between his legs. Barely missing his crotch. His large, bulky frame shook in absolute horror along with his eyes quivering in fear. The head of the weapon too close for comfort.

"By the way, I usually use two swords, but for you?" I grinned. " _I only need one_."

* * *

High up in the central tower of Beacon Academy.

The Headmaster nursed a freshly brewed cup of coffee close to his face. He released a breath of satisfaction and approval. "Just right, not too fine and not too coarse." The silver-haired man took a tentative sip. "Oobleck, I must say you've certainly outdone yourself this time grabbing coffee beans all the way from Menagerie."

A soft bell chimes across the room. The elevator door sliding open to reveal Glynda striding into the room with her usual stern face.

"Ah Glynda, I just reviewed the initial reports you sent to me earlier. This year sounds more promising than usual might I say."

"Yes sir," she agreed with his statement. "The… new student that we picked up has proven to be a stalwart student so far besides some minor altercations that occurred today."

"The dining hall incident correct?" Glynda nods her head. "Hmm – to be expected considering Mister Winchester's poor attitude and gross intolerance of others was bound to prove troublesome. We'll have to take a heavy handed approach to this so we'll do the usual plus more."

"Yes sir. And what about the other boy?"

"Mister Emiya?" he mulled over it for a moment. "Unneeded. We'll let him go with a slap on the wrist this time. Just remind him to not go punching anymore students from now on."

The pursed, thinned lips from Glynda told him she disagreed, but refrained from saying anything. Only nodding acquiescently.

"Oh Glynda, I know you want to be fair, however for this situation trust me. He's been a fairly exemplary student so far from what I hear. Barty and Peter currently hold him in high regard. I'm sure you'll warm up to him soon enough."

She returned a flat expression. "Sir, you shouldn't be favoring one student over others."

He chuckled in response. "Oh I'm not, trust me. If he does something that goes against the rules he'll be levied out the appropriate punishment."

"And punching another student in the face nets a slap on the wrist?"

"Context my dear Glynda. Context."

"True…"

"Now," he changed the subject. "Would you like a cup? Barty sent me a batch and I have to say it's possibly the best one I've tasted in years."

"Fine… we're doing tea next time."

"Acceptable. I think this one will finally sway you to my side Glynda," he winked.

Glynda rolled her eyes. "You've been trying for the past thirty years."

"Haha – at the very least I'm persistent," smiled a bemused Ozpin.

* * *

My hand stifles a long and drawn out yawn.

A glance at the clock on the desk read that it was midnight.

Everyone had gone to bed several hours ago while I worked on my little project for the team. I can only hope that they like what I have prepared and pray that it provides some usefulness.

Setting the pen down, I grabbed the book I checked out earlier today and quietly slinked out of the room. Along the way, I stopped by a vending machine and grabbed a heated can of tea in the student lounge. Taking care to not scald my hands, I made my way up to the roof top and sat down at the ledge.

"Alright you… twinkle, twinkle little stars."

"How I wonder where you are."

The sudden voice proved to startle me into action. Wordlessly tracing Kanshou and jumping out of my seat.

"Whoa, whoa Shirou! It's me Blake!" she held her hands up.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people."

I didn't even notice that she was behind me until she said something.

"You also shouldn't pull out a weapon on a _friend_."

My eyebrow went up at that. "Friend?" We were friends? I wouldn't exactly put it that way as I felt that we were more acquaintances than friends. A friend implied that we had a mutual understanding of each other. A mutual share in likes and dislikes. We didn't have any of that besides what we know at face value.

"Yeah friend? Isn't Team RWBY friends with Team SNPR?"

"I guess." Squeezing the handle, the low-ranked Noble Phantasm disappears into motes of light.

"That's pretty neat. Ruby talked about it non-stop all day today.

"Sorry," I said insincerely, "From what I can tell Ruby can be a bundle of energy. So what brings you here at this hour of night?" Taking my seat again, I cracked open the book and started my search. Let's start off with something easy first.

"Mind if I sit?" I debated telling her no. Curiosity got the better of me and nodded yes. "Just wanted to see what's up is all."

"The stars."

"What?" She gave me a look. "Oh… wow. Well at least that was better than what Yang usually puts out."

"Not like it's hard in the first place."

"Isn't that the truth?" smiled the black haired girl.

"So…?" This girl had yet to tell me why she followed me out at such a late hour. While I don't mind company, I do appreciate having some quiet time of my own before going to bed. There's already a lot on my mind and coming out here allowed myself to clear things up and compartmentalize things to be ready for the next day.

"I'm not sure if you know, but a lot of Faunus students that go here appreciate you for standing up for one of their kinds."

I'm unsure of how to respond so I hummed in acknowledgement of that information.

"It's sad really. A lot of them are hesitant to voice their opinions so openly since it's so controversial. Doing what you did gave them a lot of confidence to stand up for themselves." Her bow twitched every now and then. Those amber eyes of hers gazed upwards to the stars with her feet dangling off the ledge.

I have a feeling that Blake was telling this to me from her own heart. From her own need to voice her own thoughts about it while making sure to hide the fact that she herself was a Faunus. By using the other students, she can keep herself undercover and away from any prying eyes. For what reason? I do not know. It must be pretty important if she went to great lengths to hide her true nature.

"You're welcome…" I snapped the book, startling her. "…Blake."

"W-What?" confused as to why I directed it towards her specifically.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I won't go prying into places I have no business of."

Blake's face turned conflicted. Her eyes narrowed, turning her face away from me at the same time. "How did you know?"

"Little things here and there. Your bow twitching for instance," I pointed at the hair piece, "is what gives it away. Then there's your overt concern for the wellbeing of Faunus, that quiet demeanor and general aloofness usually invites suspicion. Not to mention you coming out here at this time of night is what gave it away."

"I see…" she said slowly. "What are you going to do?"

"Hmm? Nothing – it's not my business as far as I'm concerned." I have secrets of my own too. I certainly wouldn't like it if some person who I didn't know intimately started digging where they aren't supposed to be.

"…thanks."

Popping open the tab. I took a long drag from the can. With all this chatting between me and her, the warmth had left the drink due to exposure of the cold night. I sighed, peering down at the can. I didn't really like cold tea very much, but it is what it is and drank the rest of it in one go.

There goes enjoying the night to myself with some hot tea.

"Sorry about that. Didn't mean to let your drink go cold."

I crushed the aluminum can. "It's fine. I might as well head back in and finish up on some work for tomorrow." I got up with a small yawn. Maybe just a little review of the plan and then go to bed. It doesn't hurt to be prepared.

"H-Hey um… thanks Shirou. If you want I can buy you another one."

I turned her offer down with a shake of my head. "I told you that it's fine. You should head on in too unless that is you plan on staying out here a little while yourself."

"No, I think I'll stay for a bit. Goodnight Shirou."

I grumbled under my breath. That's supposed to be me there, Blake stole my spot and my plan of wasting the night away. "Don't stay up too late now, goodnight Blake."

Time to prepare for tomorrow.

* * *

Author's Note: Wow. Just wow. This chapter was such a hard one to get over. Probably one of the weirdest and most difficult hurdles to overcome as it was rife with rewrites, cuts, edits and even more rewrites until the final product which you see here. Probably over a five or six rewrites before I got to this point where I was satisfied with a decent product for you guys.

I apologize for the incredibly large gap of almost _two whole damn months_. I didn't even get to write anything down for my other story because this one took up most my time.

As you already know, I rewrote chapters 1 through 3 because I felt largely dissatisfied with how the work turned out. Response felt rather lukewarm if not disappointing because of how poorly written some of the characters were largely in part due to my own different interpretation of them. So that affected me greatly when I started typing chapter 4. Due to that, it took me around two months to finally piece things together and do my homework properly.

I want to give you a product that you, the reader, can enjoy and look back on. And something for me to be proud of as both an author and a critic of myself. I want to improve and if that means I have to take my lumps then by god I'll take my damn lumps to the face.

 _3rei Shirou_ is both the same yet a wildly different beast compared to his _/stay night_ counterparts. In the visual novel you have the ability to control choices and outcomes. One scene in particular had you choose whether to punch Shinji or _not_ to punch Shinji in the face. The scene with Cardin and Shirou in the dining hall mimics this to a degree to coincide 3rei Shirou's character.

It runs in the same vein, however 3rei tends to be a lot more forward and direct with his actions. Along with being more antagonistic with his barbs and insults to get a rise out of people he tends to dislike. Case in point with Julian when he called him a third-rate actor, Angelica when she fails to actively kill him and calls her a paltry fake, Zachary in the graveyard, and Shinji.

But he also has his good side that he likes to express with his saving people thing. Even though he casted it aside, he still yearns to be a Hero of Justice somewhere deep down within him. It's intrinsic to his character, but I have plans for it go through its own little arc by having Ruby be his foil.

Either way, this has gone a little bit long. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the rewrites of chapter 1 through 3. I worked hard on them over December and January! Again I apologize for the ridiculously long wait!

Please leave a review of your thoughts on the chapter so far! Tell me what's good, what's bad, and what I need to improve on! Feel free to send me an invite too! I love messaging and communicating with you, the reader! I'll respond as soon as I can when I get them!

Word count before A/N: 8,705


	5. The Distance Between Them

_Chapter 5_

 _The Distance Between Them_

* * *

 _Cold was the pervasive feeling he felt as the bone-chilling wind howled through the air._

 _His steely gaze peered from on top of a hill out into the blizzard. A sense of unfamiliarity of his surroundings crept upon him as he stared out at the endless expanse of snow and hills. A perplexed expression subtly etched itself onto his face as he attempted to comprehend the situation._

 _Something in the back of his mind told him that he belonged here, but he knew himself it was wrong._

 _He knew what things should look like._

 _He knew where things should be._

 _And things most certainly not what they look like and where they should be._

 _He closed his eyes and exhaled a frosty breath._

 _A feeling gnawed at the back of his head the longer he stood there. With each passing moment he slowly but surely gained a better understanding of his circumstance. His mind piecing together the scene before him until he fathomed his situation._

 _He opened his eyes and stared up at the lone crescent moon that bathed the snowy tundra in its lunar light._

" _You are indeed…"_

* * *

"… _a fool…"_

The mangled, disembodied voice vanished away like smoke in the wind.

I slowly roused as a gentle hand nudged my shoulder. My eyes blearily open as I pull away from the desk in front of me. One of the first things I noted was an irritating headache and a dull ache in the back of my neck.

How long was I asleep?

"Good morning Shirou," a voice greeted me softly.

I rubbed my face with both hands to rid myself of my grogginess.

"Morning… Pyrrha," it came out muffled through my hands.

"Long night I'm guessing?" She mused as she sat down next to me. "To think I woke up to you yesterday morning already at work. Now I'm greeted to you passed out at your desk. I certainly hope this doesn't become habitual Shirou," she teased.

I yawned into my hand. "Well… I suppose if it means that the first thing I get to see is you then it can't be all that bad…"

I must've said something odd to her as I realized she became silent.

My desk was a complete mess. Textbooks stacked here. Papers and folders piled over there. I took a moment to organize my desk together by piling them up into a semi-organized state.

After that, I found my scroll and turned it on. The screen indicated that no mew messages had been received with a big bold zero. A soft click of my tongue, I turned it off and stowed it away. "So I guess I'm the last one to wake up?"

"Indeed," nodded Pyrrha. "Ren and Nora woke up not too long ago. They should be almost done cleaning up by now."

"Then I better get going and clean myself up. Wouldn't want to keep Nora waiting for breakfast now do we?" I gave her a small grin.

"No," she followed along. "No we wouldn't."

She titled her head slightly to the side. There was a curious expression that seemed to be searching for something. I glanced away to gather my belongings and made my way out of the room.

I wondered what was on her mind.

"I shouldn't be too long so when and Nora get back. Tell them to be ready to head out once I'm done."

The redhead smiled, "Sure thing Shirou."

"Thanks," I threw a casual wave over my shoulder as I exited the room.

I rubbed at my forehead. The headache I felt earlier had somewhat subsided by now, but the ache on the back of my neck persisted. Maybe a hot shower would do the trick to alleviate this irritation. As I walked down the hall, I couldn't help shake off a weird feeling that crept down my spine.

I'm unsure if I had a dream or if I had been talking to myself. But I could have sworn that I heard a person talking. No – rather they had commented on something that had happened.

However – when I attempted to focus on the dream. My mind drew a blank.

"Ha…" I sighed tiredly.

I chalked up to whatever I'm feeling as not being well-rested and shelve it off the side. I'll deal with it at another time…

* * *

"Ergh-!" groaned Nora as she stretched her back. "That was such a loo-ng class today! It's a good thing that was the only one for today because my mind is exhausted!"

Ren shared the same sentiments. "I do have to say that this class was particularly grueling compared to the others."

The first and only class of the day with Professor Peach had just finished. It was a rather length class as it started in the morning after breakfast and finished well past noon. Considering her personality, I could not fault Nora. It must've been boring for her just sitting there, listening to the lecture.

Several days since my arrival, I've been able to get a solid grasp on my teammates' personalities and quirks.

Nora, the ever cheery and happy-go-lucky girl of the team. She had a vibrant personality to march her rather spontaneous tendencies. Although from what I've witnessed yesterday, belying that sugar sweet exterior held a menacing and admittedly, terrifying strength that gave me some caution.

Over on the opposite end of the spectrum was Ren. The quiet, consummate professional that embodied the essence of reserved. The way he conversed and acted revealed a lot about his logical and efficient personality. He had the patience of a Buddha with how he managed Nora on a day to day basis. I can only surmise that he gained it from years of knowing her.

And last, but certainly not least was Pyrrha.

Sneaking a glance to my left at the redhead, I caught her waving to other students as we strolled down the hallway. To me, it was starting to become the norm. Everywhere we walked, there were groups of people talking avidly about my teammate.

Nevertheless, from my standpoint, it didn't affect her all that much. She seemed to take it all in stride. She was composed, collected, and righteous. From yesterday in Doctor Oobleck's class when she stood up for what was right, she refused to budge an inch. She spoke modestly and patiently without the need for belittling.

The whispers in the background grew. It tore me from my own musings. Maybe Pyrrha was some sort of celebrity? I would need to see what all the fuss was about by the sound of their fervor.

"At least we're free for the rest of the day. Right Shirou?"

Pyrrha's voice spoke up.

"Free from classes yeah," I replied, a smirk forming on my face. "But not from our first session as a team tough."

"First session as a team?" parroted Nora tilting her head to the side.

"Yep," I nodded. "It might be a little early to start since it's still the first week. However seeing as our schedule is set, I thought it would be a good idea to start early and get ahead of the other teams. I read that they do some sort of team assessment and judge us based on that to determine whether we are able or unable to apply for missions."

Ren rubbed his chin in thought. "I concur. We're left a surprisingly large amount of time for self-studying after classes. It's best to use the time we have to train together."

"Not to mention that the Vytal Festival is this year!" added Nora.

"Vytal Festival?" I quirked an eyebrow up. I didn't hear anything about that, but it sounded fairly important.

"Uh… Yeah? You know… the super big important festival that only happens like… once every two years? Don't you know that Vale is hosting it this time too?" Nora gave me a queer look.

"Err- yeah! Sorry, must've slipped my mind you know?" I chuckled awkwardly at the end and scratched the back of my head.

Damn – that was too close for comfort with that slip. How in the world was I supposed to know about a thing like that? I really need to start expanding my cultural knowledge to better blend in or else people will start prying where they shouldn't.

"It's alright, "I felt Pyrrha's hand on my shoulder. "You were probably too focused on us as a team, so that's understandable."

I let out a breath of relief. I'll set myself this evening to look into what this Vytal Festival is all about.

"Thanks…" I gave her a reassuring look. "Anyways, is anyone opposed to starting today or…?"

"No," Pyrrha answered, shaking her head. "I think we're all looking forward to training together as a team right guys?" She turned to Ren and Nora who both nodded their heads in agreeance. "So what do you have in store for us?"

"Hmm… how about we start with something simple?"

* * *

"A sparring match against you Shirou?" said Pyrrha with a hand on her hip.

She long with the rest of the team had changed out of their uniforms and into their accustomed attire for our first training session. Seeing them in their personal clothing made me realize that I should really look into getting my own set of clothes as soon as possible. I'm beginning to miss that old baseball shirt of mine.

I rolled up my sleeves. "If I were to be honest, I'm sort of making this up as I go along. I've never really led a team before so it'll be a learning experience for all of us."

The only thing I was ever in charge of to say was the Archery Club. However since that only consisted of me and one other person, I wasn't completely sure if it would be correct to call me a leader.

Pyrrha stepped forward. "If you'd like I would happily volunteer to be-"

"Nah, it's fine," I cut her off. "I think I'm more than enough to handle everyone here."

The redhead blinked and then crossed her arms underneath her chest. "Is that so?"

A small, devilish smile formed on her lips. It seems that my comment ignited a fiery competitive spirit not only in Pyrrha but Nora as well. Ren ever composed, responded by perking up a lone eyebrow.

"Oh… I know so," I grinned a little bit. By the intensity of her green eyes, she wanted me to eat those words and then some. "So on that note, the first one up is Ren."

He bowed his head in acknowledgment and stepped forward.

"Oh? Whatever happened to ladies first?" Pyrrha asked jovially. "And here I thought you'd ask me to go first Shirou."

"Ha – well… don't you know Pyrrha?"

"What's that?"

"You always save the best for last." I threw her a cheeky look.

"Flatter won't get you anywhere," she responded with a wink.

"Trust me, that wasn't my intention." I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to Ren who stood patiently across from me. "You ready Ren?"

He nodded. "I presume we'll be following Professor Goodwitch's guidelines from Combat Class?"

"Yep, the settings on the console are preset to that. First one to drop below the minimum or is unable to continue will be the loser."

"Very well," he concluded before readying himself with his two pistols.

* * *

Although the match yesterday against Cardin was informative. It proved to me that I had limited knowledge regarding Aura. How did it work? How much was it able to protect its user? Were they able to manipulate that energy externally? Where were the limits? The book that I read only gave me a cursory idea so in the end I needed to personally find out myself.

Seeing and reading one was thing, experiencing it was another.

A part of me knew I could've asked and my teammates would be more than happy to show. But where was the fun in that? Besides, I always liked a more hands-on approach.

" _Trace, on_."

I projected _Kanshou_ , the black yang sword, onto my right hand and grasped onto the familiar weight. A flourished swing to the side announced to Ren that I was ready.

Countering his stony expression with my own felt like I was staring into a mirror. We waited for each other to make the first move. Even though we both witnessed each other fight in the assessment yesterday, neither of us budged to make the first move. He already knew I would open first by rushing close to get within his guard. On the other hand, I knew that he would immediately jump back to open up a salvo with his pistols.

Know yourself, know your enemy. A hundred battles, a hundred victories.

I went overkill on Cardin to show him the sheer gap between us, but with Ren I wanted to see how far I could go without resorting to anything drastic.

A shift of my right foot back instantly made Ren tense up. He withheld from firing and brought his weapons up in response.

Inhaling and exhaling, I reinforced my legs for a small boost and rushed in.

He doubled back as immediately and opened fire with both pistols predicting where I would stop. I arrested my momentum by smashing my right heel down to flip backwards from the hail of bullets that impacted the ceiling. The moment I landed, I shifted into a defensive stance as a shower of metal greeted me.

He forced me to deflect and block in one location while he maneuvered around.

Slashing and cutting furiously, my arm and eyes were now reinforced to keep up with the onslaught of metal. The bullets slammed into _Kanshou_ that sliced and redirected them up until I deflected the last bullet harmlessly to the side.

Ren's eyes narrowed.

"No way…" whispered Nora.

"Amazing..." muttered Pyrrha.

His body began to shift to the right while his eyes glanced to the left. He thumbed the magazine release on both pistols as he prepared to reload while dashing to the side.

Inspecting my weapon for a second, I noticed Kanshou sported a few nicks here and there along the edge. But otherwise suffered superficial damage. Despite my reinforcement, I still wanted to avoid getting hit by any one of those dust rounds.

Taking a step to the left. Ren looked as if he were to dash to the right. But rather than follow through, he suddenly darted to the left.

I immediately tracked his movement. His only response was his eyes widening as he realized his trick failed. He barely had time to register my appearance let alone the sword that was aimed at his neck. At the drop of a hat, he was down on the ground, barely dodging the swing as the ends of his hair were clipped.

His right pistol flashed upward to cut into an opening.

My left hand snapped out to catch the upper receiver.

Presented with a moment of opportunity. I thumbed the slide release. Ren reacted by swiping with his other pistol. _Kanshou_ came up to parry away the pistol at the same time my foot slammed into his chest sending him several meters away.

He skidded across the ground momentarily before graciously flipping up and landing on his feet.

I sped toward him already in motion for a thrust.

He parried upward sending the attack away. My hand flipped the sword and brought it back down, forcing his arms apart to avoid getting stabbed.

Turning on his feet, he connected with a roundhouse that I blocked with my left arm.

I barely reacted to the kick and shoved his leg away. The black sword jabbed at his heart. He deflected my jab and countered with a swing of his own.

We exchanged a multitude of blows in the span of a heartbeat. An attack for an attack. A counter for a counter. A parry for a parry.

I shifted my feet, charged up my prana, and shoulder charged into his guard.

"Grhk-!"

He was caught off by the reckless attack that forced him back to end the stalemate we fell into.

I gave him no chance for reprieve. _Kanshou_ was already cutting through the air.

His left pistol locked with my sword. The other pistol aimed for my open guard once more. In response, my hand moved just like before to catch the receiver.

Ren narrowed his magenta eyes. Foreseeing the same action, he pulled his hand back fearing getting caught again. Pulling his attention away for a split second costed him as I rolled my wrist to disarm him with _Kanshou_.

The weapon was sent careening off to the side.

He sharply inhaled and used both hands to grasp his last pistol to hastily defend from a quick downward strike. I nearly shattered his block as I could feel him struggling against my reinforced strength.

I brought up my leg for a kick. He pushed away using his blade to create some space. He crossed his arms in front of his chest expecting a front snap kick. Pivoting on the hell of my left foot. I slammed my right leg into him instead with a roundhouse kick. Unable to react, Ren took the hit straight into his left temple.

Through sheer experience, Ren softened the blow by following my momentum. Despite his best attempt, it didn't stop him from tumbling across the concrete floor harshly. He unceremoniously came to a stop, far less graceful this time, and stumbled to get up.

Throwing the blade in my hand, I traced another _Kanshou_ and rushed towards his position.

Ren deflected the blade with practiced ease as it disappeared in a burst of magical energy. For an instant, it obscured his vision. During that split second, Ren mashed down on the magazine release and moved to reload. He miscalculated how much time he had as by the time the empty magazine left the handle, I was already upon him with a fierce slash.

His last pistol went flying from his grasp.

Flipping _Kanshou_ into a reverse grip. The point of the blade sailed downward for a stab, but to my amazement it was stopped by his hands. Between the sword and his hands, something akin to a force field materialized before my eyes.

"Tch…"

I glared in annoyance. Even with both hands pressing down on _Kanshou_ , the barrier held strong.

"Grrh-!" Ren gritted his teeth.

We were caught in another stalemate trying to overpower each other.

Ren made the first move by grabbing onto my right wrist with his left hand and twisted harshly, forcing me to release my grip. Rather than struggle, I tossed the sword up, and latched onto his wrist with my left hand.

Wrenching my right hand away, I cocked my arm back and punched him straight in the cheek. As he was sent reeling, I held on with my left hand and stretched his arm. I caught _Kanshou_ that was still in the air and swung at his neck.

He looked at me with wide eyes at the predicament he found himself in. There was a momentary struggle as he tried to pull away, but with a blade at his neck. It quickly became clear that there was no opportunity to escape.

Accepting the outcome of the match, Ren relaxed and nodded his head in concession.

* * *

"Ren!" cried out Nora. She dashed towards him, almost knocking down her lifelong friend in the process as she coddled him. "Are you ok? Are you bleeding anywhere? Do we need to take you to the hospital?"

Flushed in embarrassment, Ren stuttered. "N-Nora! Nora, I'm fine. Everything is fine." He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back a little to allow her to see that he was indeed perfectly fine. "See? My Aura protected me from any damage."

"It sure did…" I noted to myself as I stood to the side.

Going over the fight in my head. I now understood just how durable could be. That first snap kick that I made should have, at the very least, bruised his rib cage. The second kick to the side of his head should have concussed him, but he was able to bear with it. Of course he was still reeling from the pain, however he was overall ok.

Aura was certainly more practical than reinforcement. Ren didn't have to carefully measure how much Aura he was using during the heat of battle.

Rather it was like a second skin, absorbing strikes that should have incapacitated him and boosting his strength when attacking. Meanwhile, reinforcement required the user to intimately know the precise amount of magical energy a particular object can endure. Enhance too much and I risk damaging my body. It was only due to years of familiarity and practice that allowed me to use reinforcement in battle.

"That was a good fight Ren. You almost had me there a couple of times." I walked over to him. "There are a couple things to note. The first being that you need to hide which direction you're dashing to more subtly. Your body may be positioned to go one way, but your eyes said another. It's only natural for a person to look where they're going before they do so. However – on the other hand your reaction and decision make were exceptional given the circumstances."

"It seems…" he coughed a bit. "That it did next to nothing against someone like you Shirou."

"Heh," I chuckled and looked away.

Archer embodied stoicism. He held more experience than Ren using any means to overcome opponents.

Hiding his emotions.

Concealing his steps.

Frustrating his opponents by insulting and deceiving them.

Archer used anything and everything to great effect both as a mortal and in his innumerable years as a Counter Guardian.

"You could say that I knew what to look for," I shrugged.

Ren coughed into his hand once more. "I see… this has been quite enlightening."

I flashed a small grin.

It was indeed enlightening in more ways than one. I knew what to look out for in Aura, what it could do, and how it felt reacting to my sword.

"Go rest up Ren," I pat his shoulder. "It's Nora's turn now and I don't think you'll want to be anywhere close for this one. Same goes for you Pyrrha," I turned to her. "Would you mind helping him out?"

"I would be glad to," she responded helping Ren clear himself away from the field.

Following them, I gathered his discarded weapons and returned it to him. By the time I returned, Nora was already raring to go. I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes at her voice of weapon. A hammer that was as tall as she was. The way she gripped it menacingly with a glint in her eyes made me raise an eyebrow.

"I'm ready to go Shirou!" she said enthusiastically."

"Yeah." I huffed in amusement. "You sure are."

* * *

Pyrrha observed the spar with earnest from the sidelines with Ren sitting down next to her.

Now that she was closer to the action, she was able to pick up additional details that she missed during Shirou's match with Cardin. Every action, movement, and tendency that he made, unraveled the person known as Shirou Emiya.

Her team leader played a dangerous game of leaving himself open to attacks while prepared to unleash devastating counterattacks. It boiled down to a game of chicken where Shirou dared his opponent to strike him, baiting them into a position, and then immediately responding with a vicious counter.

"Frightening… isn't it?" Ren noted softly from the ground.

"Which one? Nora or Shirou?"

"I'm inclined to say both, but more so Shirou."

"How so?" Her eyes peeled away from the fight, seeking an explanation from him.

"You must've noticed it by now haven't you Pyrrha?" Ren gestured to Shirou, as he barely dodged Nora's swing before answering with a vicious swipe.

Pyrrha picked up on Ren's comment referring to Shirou's wild and absurd style.

"To tell you the truth, his style is crazy, if not borderline suicidal." He continued. "I made the mistake of assuming him to be a technical fighter like you and I. Despite what it looks like, he's a deceitful fighter; there were openings everywhere that were too obvious."

"And that's how he got you," concluded Pyrrha. "You took the bait and fell into his trap."

The ground shook as Nora's hammer smashed into the ground, pulverizing the concrete into fine powdered dust. Most normal, sane individuals would attempt to steer clear of such an overbearing weapon wielded by Nora; but not Shirou.

He was crazy enough to actually match his opponent blow for blow. The arena shook with every clash their weapons made. Shirou's small sword was deceptive in its stature as it not only withstood the hammer's blow, but beat it back.

If Shirou used skill and deception against Ren then he was using strength and speed to match Nora.

"He's resourceful at creating and using opportunities no one would ever imagine…"

They both sat on edge as Nora brought her hammer downward to smash Shirou into the ground like a nail. He dodged it at the last second by hopping to the side. The hammer cratered the ground with ease. Shirou stomped his foot down just below the head of the hammer. The encumbering weapon's weight was forcefully shoved into the ground deeper, lodging it in place as Nora tried pulling it free to no avail.

Shirou's body twisted in one motion. His sword sped towards her neck.

Nora squeezed a trigger that exploded the hammer upwards, him flying over her head as the hammer was freed. She spun on the hell of her foot and chased after her opponent.

"It's rather jarring… the lightning quick speed and aggression puts you on edge which distracts you from the powerful strikes that follow up. He keeps you guessing even when you have the upper hand."

"And that's why you lost…" mused Pyrrha.

It came as a statement, rather than a question.

"Yes," he admitted with no shame. "You're right…. And it is why Nora will lose this fight as well."

Ren said with such finality that it goaded a reaction from her.

His eyes were glued onto Shirou's form as he savagely deflected a thunderous blow and grabbed the shaft of the hammer. His arm jerked back and forced Nora to take on two strikes directly before she managed to overpower him to retreat.

"It's not like I do not believe in Nora… no a side of me _wants_ to believe that she can still win. However, the logical part of me vehemently disagrees." Ren sounded guilty, as if his words betrayed Nora. "Shirou's willing to sacrifice ground and himself if it means he'll gain an advantage later on. He's influencing events now that'll impact the future later."

Nora swung her hammer repeatedly to land a solid hit on the openings that Shirou left for her. Every attack she sent was ether dodged or blocked, and she was punished severely as a blow knocked a portion of her Aura away. He used his speed to his advantage and conserved his strength when it was needed. The action never stopped as they traded blows.

Shirou skidded to a stop and blocked a fierce blow that he could've dodged.

The hammer wielding girl smirked at the sight of the black sword being shattered.

However – the moment was fleeting. As soon as it was gone, a replacement already took its place. He kept up with his momentum and thrusted his blade into her abdomen. It rocketed her back to the other side of the room and crashing into a wall.

"He baited her…" stated Ren.

Pyrrha agreed with his opinion that Shirou's style was suicidal. He risked himself and his weapon to gain an otherwise impossible strike. He gambled dangerously that would have costed him the fight, but that wasn't the case. He was now reaping the fruits of his labor as Nora charged into him wildly.

Her face, what was once jovial and cheerful, had now soured into frustration and annoyance. All the ground that Nora had just gained disappeared in an instant. Now she was on the back foot.

"I can only imagine how frustrated Nora must be," said Ren.

"Grrr-RRAAHHH!" the ensuing roar was Ren's answer.

Shirou responded by simply dashing away as Nora swung wildly with all her might.

Even though he had yet to say a single word throughout the fight. His actions were deliberately insulting Nora. He stoked the flames of her ire by sacrificing several more swords while staying within arms' reach of her weapon.

Pyrrha glanced up at the Aura boards. Shirou's meter had yet to budge an inch while Nora's was dangerously close to the halfway mark. Just before she turned away, Shirou's name bar twitched. Question marks replaced the letters briefly before fixing itself. It happened so quickly that had she blinked, she would have missed it.

"Ren… did you see that?" Her face puzzled in confusion at the glitch.

"See what?"

Her eyes continued staring at the board, daring it to repeat the action once more. It stayed unchanged in the following moments. "Never mind, I suppose it was my imagination."

Ren gave her an odd look before turning his attention back to the action.

The match between Shirou and Nora was soon reaching its conclusion. By now Shirou had shepherded Nora into a corner as her movements became sloppy. The weight of the hammer betraying its wielder over the course of the fight. Her chest heaved in exhaustion with sweat matting her forehead.

Shirou on the other hand appeared indifferent. He looked the same as he did when the fight started even though he had just fought Ren previously.

Nora flexed her arms and twisted her body before swinging. The massive hunk of metal pushed the air out of the way as she roared with all her might.

Shirou muttered something as he stepped into the attack.

A burst of power sprung forth as circuit lines flowed down from his arm and into the sword. He smashed his blade onto the hammer causing it to explode into a cloud of dust and smoke.

"Augh-!"

Nora rocketed out of the cloud, tumbling against the concrete floor harshly. Soon after, the smoke dissipated to reveal him standing in the smoke with Nora's weapon in his hands.

The conversation she had with Ren was informative. Two minds were better than one as he helped her analyze her opponent.

Pyrrha tightened the straps on her bracer in anticipation. With Nora's defeat, it was finally her turn to take a jab at her seemingly indomitable leader. A strong emotion surged within her at the sight of Shirou standing victorious in the arena by himself.

It invoked a strong sense of nostalgia.

The scenery felt reminiscent of when she would stand victorious over countless opponents in the Mistral Regional Tournament. The thrill of the fight, the excitement of combat, and the rush of adrenaline through her body. All of it came surging back to her as she had finally found an opponent that could challenger her.

With a grin, she stepped forward.

* * *

"Looks like someone is eager to start." I glanced at Pyrrha as she strode towards Nora setting her hammer down next to her. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that patience is a virtue?"

"Well… no one in life ever got what they wanted by waiting around."

"I suppose so…"

I stretched out my arm and shook off the numbness from Nora's fight. Near the end, I decided to trade blows with Nora. It was terrifying how she can swing a hammer that probably weighed over a hundred pounds as if it were a toy. There were several close calls in that fight and if even one hit had managed to connect, the battle would have ended. That girl had the strength to rival a Berserker Class Card holder without a doubt.

"W-Whoa… did anyone get the number of flapjacks that hit me?"

I peered down to see Nora holding her head and refrained from chuckling. Of all things for her to say, of course Nora would use pancakes; it was something only Nora would say I suppose. Nora was already recovering if she can make that kind of joke.

"You ok Ren?" I turned to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine now after resting. I'll be sure to look after Nora while you and Pyrrha go at it."

"Thanks."

I walked back out into the arena where a redhead stood waiting impatiently with her weapons drawn at the ready. She was eager to start the right. Her green eyes intently stared into mine as she tracked my movement. The anticipation she exuded was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"I guess it would be silly of me to ask if you're ready." I said with some cheek.

"Indeed it would."

She slid into her stance.

"Ha… alright then…"

There was no need of me to ask if she was ready. Pyrrha knew when the fight would start.

" _Trace, on_."

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos refrained from visibly reacting when the ground beneath Shirou's feet cratered as he vanished. A fast red blur approached her with speeds far greater than what she had ever encountered before.

Through instincts honed from years in the arena, his black sword collided with her shield. The sword scraped against her shield as she thrusted out her spear in response.

Her lance stabbed air as Shirou had dashed away.

Lower her stance and raising her guard, she adjusted accordingly to match his blistering speed.

Her eyes tracked his form like a hawk. He rushed in once more, however this time she took the initiative to jab where he would be. She took advantage of her weapon's longer reach and thrusted a jab against Shirou. The attack was parried, forcing her shield arm up to block two consecutive thrusts aimed for her neck and chest.

The shield gonged out as she was pushed back with each hit. Her body twisted with the movement of her spear arm for a wide swing.

While thrusting was a core part of a lancer's style, swinging was also viable. With a longer reach, it allowed the wielder to discourage an enemy from dodging it by simply stepping back. If he chose to retreat, he would be dealt a severe cut to his stomach. If he risked stepping forward, Shirou would have to take the attack head on, resulting a crushing blow.

His left hand snapped out and latched onto the shaft of her lance.

Learning from the experience of her other two teammates, she instantly reacted. She squeezed down on her handle to extend her lance further, doubling its length from one meter to two. The sudden extension forced the weapon free from his vice-like grip. In response he rapidly struck out three times. Pyrrha, undeterred, blocked it with ease before he backed off.

Instead of giving him space, she pressed on.

"Tch." He clicked his tongue.

She could not allow Shirou to control the pace of the fight.

She foregone the need to transition her cherished weapon into its short sword form. She held a distinct advantage over Shirou in all aspects of the fight. A longer reaching weapon to attack coupled with a study shield to block any retaliation. Her lance could attack faster than his sword and her shield allowed her to dictate where he could hit her.

Shirou attempted to parry the blow aimed for his chest. But he was swept away along with his weapon by the sheer ferocity in her attack.

Pyrrha closely guarded herself leaving little to no openings when she struck out. Every time she thrusted, she simultaneously blocked to counter his immediate response.

Against an opponent of Shirou's utilitarian and suicidal approach, there was no room for fancy footwork or flashy displays of technique. She knew from experience that such things would not work against someone like him. She would have to see through his trickery and plan further ahead than him.

And so her thrusts and swings increased in speed and strength, while Pyrrha rebuffed and countered Shirou's response. The raging swarm of attack and defend quickly fell into a pattern.

The two fighters exchanged dozens of blows to each other in seconds. Every jab by her spear was filled with power and precision in an attempt to force him into submission. The edge of their weapons burning hot due to the constant clashes.

Subtly, Pyrrha began to weave her Semblance into her weapons.

 _Polarity_ – her innate ability that allowed her to manipulate the physical phenomena of magnetism.

The power she kept secret that would earn her the title _The Invincible Girl_.

With that ability in hand, she manipulated his weapon covertly so as not to arouse suspicion. An overextension here, an overpowered strike there, and a turn of his weapon before finally-!

"-!"

A resounding shatter like that of porcelain breaking filled the air!

The black sword in his hand was speared through by a straight thrust. She guided the sword in his hand into a vulnerable position. Utilizing magnetism to increase her weapon's velocity, she smashed through the object with ease and threw Shirou off balance.

His eyes narrowed. His expression stayed calm even when disarmed.

Her feet planted onto the ground firmly and in an instant, pushed herself forward. She could move fast enough before he had the chance to rearm himself!

Pyrrha struck for three spots; head, neck, and heart. Three shots to blow him away into defeat!

However-!

Her eyes widened. Her body moved before her mind registered what happened. She reflexively brought her shield up in time to block three attacks that forced her back. Just like Nora, the crucial ground that she worked so hard to gain was lost in the blink of an eye.

"What…?" she whispered. "…of course."

She chastised herself for not remembering an important bit of knowledge that he had casually given away yesterday.

Instead of just one sword, he now wielded two. A beautiful white sword that contrasted poetically with the black one. The Yin and Yang swords that he held was captivating as she had never seen something so symbolic. They were a perfect fit for the boy who wielded them.

"You're a dual-wielder…"

* * *

My eyes never strayed away as I adjusted my grip on _Kanshou_ and _Bakuya_.

Pyrrha Nikos was something else entirely. It was foolish of me to even think that _Kanshou_ alone would be enough against someone like her. There's a certain gracefulness in her actions that allowed her to direct the fight to her whim without a single fault in her step. It was at such a level of skill that could only be attained through a combination of time, effort, and talent.

She reminded me aspects of the Saber Class Card holder.

The speed, the strength, and the endurance; all of it – she had it in spades.

"If that's how it's going to be…" I murmured.

Pyrrha blasted forward on the offensive once more by opening up with a spearhead thrust to my neck.

When I parried away her lance, she returned with even greater ferocity to prevent my follow up.

I weathered the rushing tide with a surreal calm. _Kanshou_ and _Bakuya_ cut through the air as steel clashed on steel. They increased in rhythm and intensity without pause. The battle between us became a storm of steel with winds cutting down anything in its path.

She took a step back.

I took a step forward.

An instant turns into an eternity as we launched ourselves into the fray.

We exchanged with what felt like over a hundred clashes.

For every step I took, I lost a sword to her lance. When either sword was gone, another took its place instantly. Slowly but surely, each clash allowed me to force Pyrrha back one more step.

I bashed _Kanshou_ straight towards her lance with such force that it recoiled her arm away.

The black short sword goes through the motion for a horizontal swipe as a cover for the underlying thrust by the white sword. I stomp my right foot forward to add torque to the attack, but her shield was already in position. All my attack accomplished was blast her back to the other side of the room. Her feet slid against the ground leaving a travel of smoke as she dug her lance into the ground to stop herself.

A lull seeps into the fighting as we stared at each other and used the moment to collect ourselves.

My gaze drifted to her weapons.

I have an idea as to how and why she was able to disarm me effortlessly. With each swing I made, the swords in my hands felt as if they were being redirected ever so slightly. It felt as if my swords would always end up coming into contact with either weapons in a bad position.

From our bout, I could only assume it to either be a telekinetic or magnetic ability that stemmed from her Semblance. It could also explain why her strikes were so powerful. By using her intrinsic trait, she could influence her weapons to go faster to hit harder.

I calmly breathed out.

What an incredibly irksome opponent to go up against.

It was deceptively subtle. During the heat of battle, an opponent would chalk it off as error on their part, and not realizing it had been Pyrrha manipulating their own weapon the entire time. Trial and error on my part allowed me to at least somewhat figure it out.

 _Kanshou_ and _Bakuya's_ low tracing time and prana cost opened opportunities that would otherwise be restricted to others.

"Alright then…" I whispered to myself.

If I could not fight like a swordsman then I'll switch to something else.

"What's the matter Pyrrha?" I called out. "I expected better of you than this wait-and-see approach. Where's that spirit of yours?"

She shook her ruefully. "Trying to provoke me? I didn't take you to be a trash talker."

"I never said I wasn't."

A coy grin worked its way to her features. "Then perhaps I should get to know you better?"

"That's up to you now isn't it?"

"Indeed it is," she agreed. "I have to admit that I've never fought someone like you before."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere," I said with a smirk.

The redhead blinked at my response before her frame shook with mirth. The same reply she used on me had been used against her.

"Then allow me to rectify that!"

At that, Pyrrha launched herself again.

* * *

Determined green eyes stared across into indifferent golden brown eyes.

His arms blurred. He threw his swords with such force that it shoved her back. She had to lean into her shield and combine her polarity to deflect both of them.

She hunkered down and lowered her body's profile behind the shield as she rushed forward.

Her eyes caught sight of Shirou materializing a large matte black. The same one that she barely caught a glimpse of during the final moments of their initiation test into Beacon Academy. The same one that shot out a projectile that crucified the Nevermore.

His arm pulled. The bow creaked. An arrow streaked across the air and impacted into her shield.

"Gah-!"

Her body propelled back from where she stood. When she looked back, he was already in motion to nock another arrow.

"I can't take another one of those…" quickly reasoned Pyrrha.

That arrow of his packed a wallop. Her arm felt completely numb that she had to actively confirm with her eyes that she was still holding her shield.

His bow groaned.

Another arrow flew into the air at breakneck speeds and she rolled to the side. The red arrow impacted against the wall and blew out chunks of concrete everywhere. The explosion rocked the arena.

"Amazing…" she noted to herself. By her own estimate, handful of those arrows should be able to bring down a house. The power carried in those projectiles were like tank shells.

Her feet moved. Her mind scolded itself that it was not the time to gawk. She heard him pull on the string. A barrage shot towards her this time. A veritable stream like that of a machine gun with each shot capable of punching a hole in steel.

She breathed as she sprinted and dashed around the arena. He was keeping her at bay. Forcing her to constantly be on guard and moving while he stood still in the middle.

Shirou Emiya was unlike any opponent she had ever faced.

He was focused.

He was calculated.

A learning machine who's face held a cold visage.

Her eyes burned with determination. Her legs stomped into the ground defiantly with each step bringing her closer to her target.

With each breath, her heart pumped faster and harder.

With each swing of her lance, she would cut down a plethora of arrows.

Adrenaline surged through her veins. Her Semblance working in overtime.

Her arm blurred. The lance swept the air like a fan, knocking away the arrows flying into it.

Her mind focused. Her body tensed. Her arm cocked back to prepare for a spearhead thrust. She pulled her arm up at the sound of his bow being pulled. She would sacrifice her shield for the cost of victory!

Her ears heard the twang of the string. She flexed her arm in preparation tank the hit.

However…

A harsh sound pinged into the ground beneath her that stopped her in her tracks.

"Wha-!?"

A gasp escaped her mouth. She strained her body to take a step forward. Her mind wracked itself in an attempt to discern why she was stuck. It felt like someone had frozen her in place.

Casting her gaze downward, she caught sight of the hilt of a sword pierced into her shadow. Gritting her teeth in distress, she willed her body to move, but it refused to budge an inch.

"Sorry," he apologized as he pulled another arrow out casually. His voice frigid like the winds of winter. He assumed the same firing stance. "But I won't let you escape that easily."

He pulled on the bow's string.

Her green eyes flittered to the sword and back to his body. Those cold eyes dared her to make a move. Without a word, he sent a message that it was over.

She casted her gaze to meet his.

A small smile graced her lips.

For the first time ever…

Pyrrha Nikos, _The Invincible Girl,_ had been defeated.

* * *

The sight of her relaxing told me it was over. Letting the bow and arrow in my hand disperse, I snapped my fingers to remove the _Key of Providence_ that's embedded into Pyrrha's shadow.

They _Key of Providence_ , otherwise known as a black key, was a sacrament of the Holy Church. It was one of their main weapons used to combat against various demons and vampires. They were meter long swords that could be considered almost rapier-like with their main ability relying on thrusting rather than slashing. The holy weapons carried a variety of enchantments, the most prominent being the ability to immobilize a target upon the blade piercing their shadow.

A weapon that attacked the "soul" of the target.

Using the bow in such close confinement as a risk that would have costed me the fight as it left me absolutely defenseless had the shot failed. I was first and foremost a magus, not a Huntsman. I'm not afforded the same durability of Aura to absorb damage. Reinforcement to my body only went so far as there was a limit as to how much my body could resist damage.

I note how close Pyrrha had gotten with a critical eye. From the tip of her lance to my chest, there was maybe another meter left to go. If I had hesitated for even half a second, the match would have gone to Pyrrha.

When the effects of the black key disappeared, she stumbled forward a step and fell on all fours.

"Need a hand?"

Even she had limits like Nora.

She huffed tiredly and gave a sheepish grin. "I appreciate it very much."

"No problem," I shrugged as I hoisted her up.

A tingling feeling shot down my left arm. My eyes flash a grimace of pain as if a hot rod was shoved down the entire length of my arm. My hand twitched as I clenched my fist. The feeling lasted for a second before it receded.

I inspected my hand.

What the hell was that?

"You okay Shirou?" asked Pyrrha, her hand gently squeezed my shoulder. "Something the matter?"

"Huh?" I turned back to her. "Y-Yeah… I'm good, everything is fine. What about you?"

"Other than being a little exhausted, I'm fine as well," she answered. "You know Shirou… for a training session. Don't you think we may have been a little… excessive?"

"Excessive?" I gazed around to survey the damage dealt to the room.

I blinked then itched the side of my cheek as the once pristine room was now trashed with craters, gouges, and other significant damages. I hadn't paid attention to how much damage we were doing.

I really hope the school's insurance covered these damages because I sure as hell know that my student allowance can't.

"…Maybe?"

As we walked back to Ren and Nora. All I could hear was that sweet, light sound of laughter flowing from Pyrrha. A sound that I wouldn't mind hearing more often from her.

* * *

"Shirou?"

"Hmm?" I glanced to Pyrrha.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

I cocked an eyebrow up. "You just did."

The redhead smiled while shaking her head in exasperation. "Have you ever heard of the Mistral Regional Tournaments?"

I kept a straight face at the question. "Sort of… why?"

"It's just… I'm a bit surprised that someone of your skill didn't even enter. I'm more than confident that if you entered you would've made it to the finals," she said as we walked in the hallway.

"That sounds like high praise coming from you," I replied.

"It is Shirou!" Nora half-yelled, half-said with great enthusiasm. "Pyrrha here won four times in a row! She was like the best of the best for years! Like, like almost everyone knows who she is!"

I turned to Pyrrha who gave me a nervous smile and wave.

I breathed out and closed both eyes before opening one. "I see…"

Those regional tournaments must be the reason for Pyrrha's wide spread popularity in the academy. Winning four times in a row must've been an impressive feat considering her age. She must've won her first tournament at the age of thirteen.

"Shirou."

Ren spoke up, turning my attention to him.

"What school did you come from again?"

"Homurahara, why?" I averted my gaze and faced forward.

"Homurahara…" he tested the word. "I don't think I ever heard that name before…"

"It was a small school," I supplied quickly.

"Hmm," he hummed aloud in thought. "It sounds like it was in Mistral. A lot of the smaller communities tend to form their own preparatory school before sending them off to the kingdom's official academy. What town did you come from again?"

"Fuyuki," I answered tersely.

"He turned his head to me with a confused gaze. "Fuyuki? I don't-"

"Recall?" I finished for him. "I don't blame you. We were a small community and kept to ourselves."

I didn't feel like answering anymore questions about myself. "We're running late, so we should pick up the pace or else we'll miss lunch."

"Yeah!" rushed Nora. "Come on Ren! Lunch now! Talk later!"

"N-Nora! Hold up!" he was pulled on by her strength. "Nora! What did I say about pulling me along?!"

"Tee-hee!" she ignored his cries and kept dragging him by his hand.

"Noraaa-!"

I let out a small sigh of relief. That was getting too close for comfort.

"Nora and her food," she said with amusement. "I suppose we better get going as well don't you think?"

I resumed walking at a more sedated pace with the girl beside me. "Remind me not to ever get between Nora and food. I'd rather not be put in the hospital," I joked.

"Don't worry, I'll save you if it ever came to that," she teased.

I rolled my eyes and continued walking.

* * *

My team and I sat across from the spectacle, quietly observing. I sipped at my tea as I watched Ruby trying to disassemble an old cassette player without breaking it. Her face seemed distraught over a simple electronic by how she was handling it both gently and roughly.

"Grrr-!" growled the frustrated girl. "Work you stupid thing! Why'd you decide to break when I get to Beacon?"

"Ruby… don't you think it's about time you shelved it and got a new one? You know Dad said he'd get you a new music player if you asked," commented Yang looking over.

"No!" half-yelled an irritated Ruby.

"Ruby," sighed an exasperated Weiss. "You've been messing with that thing since the morning. That… box of metal looks outdated. You should really just get one of the newer models."

"No! Come on, you _know_ how important this is to me Yang!" She gingerly held it out for everyone to see at the table.

"I know, I know, but you know it was pretty old when you got it and now it looks like it's going to kick the bucket," gently replied Yang.

I placed my cup down. "Ruby?"

"Huh-? Wha-?" She looked up frazzled. "Er… yeah Shirou?"

"Mind if I take a look at it?"

She gasped, eyes instantly filling up with hope. "Can you fix it?"

I cracked a smile. How could I say no to a face like that?

"Yes, I believe I can."

"Yes!" Ruby shot out of her seat, completely forgetting her meal and school bag. "Meet me at my room! I got some stuff that might help!"

I softly chuckled at her antics as she was already out the door with a trail of rose petals. I walked around and grabbed her stuff before heading out.

"I don't know why you're indulging her like that Shirou," fussed Weiss. "She needs to grow up and learn to let go of things when they break."

I shrugged, "The least I can do is try."

Out of the corner of my eye, Blake had closed her book that she typically engrossed herself in.

"Besides – I was always good at fixing things."

* * *

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I don't get why Shirou showers her with special treatment."

"Eh – I don't think so," disagreed Yang. "As an older sibling, I get that older brother type of vibe from him you know?"

"Besides, what's the problem with him offering to help?" said Blake. "I think that was pretty nice of Shirou."

Seeing as she was alone on this matter. Weiss grumbled before giving up. "Whatever – it's not my problem."

Pyrrha pried her eyes away from the three members of Team RWBY. To the side of her, she could hear Nora chatting avidly about a subject to Ren.

"What are you two talking about?" she asked.

"I was asking Ren what he thought about Shirou's Semblance!"

Ren held a contemplative expression. "Yes – we were discussing about Shirou's swords and whether or not that is his Semblance."

"Wait, hold up. We talking about Shirou here?" interjected Yang.

"Yes," repeated a patient Ren.

"Oh, now this I gotta hear," said Yang. "So what about his swords? Something to do about how he makes them or something? Cause I gotta say, he makes it look pretty friggin' cool when he pulls them out."

"Yeah! Yeah!" agreed Nora. "He even has a cool catchphrase too! _Track, on_!"

" _Trace, on_ ," corrected Ren. "And it is certainly an impressive ability. He was able to make the same swords on the fly too."

"You know…" spoke up Weiss. "I've never heard of someone having a Semblance that can create swords. Is he using Dust? Or maybe even hard-light? Although… I don't recall ever seeing hardware on him."

"He can make a whole bunch too!" supplied Nora "Ren! You kept count during Pyrrha and Shirou's match right?"

He narrowed his eyes in thought. "I did my best, but I lost count after a hundred in all honesty. It's as if there was no end to the amount that he could create."

"Yeah! He didn't even break a sweat," detailed Nora to Team RWBY. "Shirou is an absolute monster I tell you!"

"Wait, hold the phone y'all." Yang held up a hand. "Were you guys sparring today or something?"

"It explains why they look a little roughed up," said Blake. "Although it doesn't explain why Shirou looked spotless…"

"Hmph – it's obvious that Shirou dumped most of the work on Pyrrha while he sat on the sidelines," simpered Weiss. "Why do the work when he has _the_ Pyrrha Nikos on his team? The four-time Mistral Regional Tournament Champion. Am I correct?"

The heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation looked to the redhead for confirmation. But found that said champion held a composed smile.

"On the contrary," began Pyrrha. "Shirou was actually the one that did all the work."

Weiss's jaw dropped that was followed by Yang's. Blake held a more reserved reaction by blinking a couple of times.

"E-Excuse me?" squeaked Weiss. "Are… are you… are you saying that Shirou…" she raised an accusatory finger to Pyrrha.

"Correct," she nodded. "Shirou beat Ren, then Nora, and lastly me. He is a _very_ impressive fighter. I would even take a gander to say that he could probably beat all three of us if he wanted to."

"S-Surely you're just downplaying it… r-right?" said an incredulous Weiss. The look on Pyrrha's face clearly said she wasn't. "I-… I see… I think I'll just… just…"

Weiss slumped over, passed out with swirls in her eyes.

Yang blinked and so did Blake. "Well… that just happened. I guess you can say she was knocked out… _Weiss_ cold eh Blake?"

They all groaned in unison as Yang held a smug grin.

* * *

I knocked against the open door of Team RWBY's room softly.

"Ruby, you there?"

She must have just found what she was looking for as she came into view carrying an assortment of items. "Ah-! You're here! Sorry about running off like that hehe…"

"No, no it's alright," I smiled and set both of our bags down.

Looking around at the room. It was a disorganized mess with books and papers stacked everywhere, makeshift bunk beds with one being suspended by rope and another stacked on top of books.

Although for some reason it felt… homely.

"Here's all the tools that I carry around for Crescent Rose to maintain her!" Ruby laid out all the various tools and equipment onto her desk. "Here, you can take my seat!"

Speaking of her desk, just like the room, it was a little messy and disorganized. Folder and textbooks stacked upon each other with no apparent order. It almost reminded me of myself.

"Alright – let's see what we have here…"

Getting a closer inspection of the cassette player. The appearance was eerily reminiscent of the first model of the Sony Walkman media players. It looked as if Ruby tried to repaint the fading paint with a color similar enough to give it a new breath of life. There were scratches here and there marring the metal surface along with a dent on one of the corners. The font face had also faded away to where you could barely read what it said.

I'm surprised someone like Ruby carried around such an old relic. I'd assume she'd have a more recent media player to use and not something like this.

"This is pretty old Ruby…" I said while testing out the buttons.

"Well you see… it was my mom's."

That cheery voice she typically had turned melancholic.

"I never really got to know my mom, but this is one of the few things I have left to remember her by. It even has all of her songs still on there, see?" She gently pushed one of the buttons to pop open the case to show the tape inside.

Not knowing what else to say, I replied. "I see…"

"It was working fine, and I mean yeah – it's old and stuff, but for some reason it stopped working today. I tried replacing the batteries, rewinding the tape, blowing it out, and even tried taking it apart to see what was wrong with it." The girl beside me depressingly sighed. "And none of it worked. You think you can fix it?"

I smiled reassuringly. "Yup – in cases like this, old things are nice because they're pretty easy to figure out. I'm sure there's a part in there that went bad and just needs to be replaced. It's just a matter of finding it, which is the issue."

"Told you so Weiss!" She pumped her fist into the air.

"Ha – well… do you want to see a magic trick?"

She nodded her head eagerly.

"Watch closely ok? _Trace, on…_ "

I placed my hand on the old cassette player as lines of circuitry flowed from my arms and into the object. I closed my eyes and peered into the media player with Structural Grasp.

Even experienced mechanics and repairmen would have some difficulty in figuring out what's wrong with something just by looking at it on a superficial level. However with my magecraft, I'm able to view the image of the object in my head like a three-dimensional schematic.

"Hmmm… the DC motor needs to be readjusted. The main circuit board is still good, but one of the capacitors needs to be fixed along with two resistors that need to be soldered back into place again."

I take my hand off the electronic to search for the tools. There's a spool of solder and a soldering iron for the resistors, a small screw and pliers for the DC motor, and some paraffin wax for the capacitors. Alright – this should do.

"Whoa… that was so cool Shirou…" Ruby whispered breathlessly. "How'd you do that? Was that your Semblance?"

I began the process of disassembling the machine and getting to work. Since I already knew what parts were broken, the rest was easy. It was nice to know that Ruby carried practically everything a person needs to fix something.

"You could say it is one aspect of it."

"What was it that you said? Trace on? That's even cooler that you got a catchphrase!" she complimented excitedly.

My hands robotically moved as they fixed the media player. I took extra care and effort to not damage anything in the process. With the knowledge of how important this thing meant to Ruby, I wanted to do my best for her.

"It allows me to focus my… Semblance." I need to get used to say that. "It's called Structural Grasp, a personal skill that allows me to essentially look into an object's entire history and understand its components."

Ruby's jaw dropped. "What! That's so flipping cool! No, wait! That's like beyond cool!"

The original magecraft of Emiya Shirou. A simple skill developed by a boy with no talent for magic who worked tirelessly day in and day out perfecting a meaningless ability in the eyes of the magi community.

"So does this mean that you can like tell what metal was used? How many time's it's fired? How long it took to make? Who made it? The entire history?" she shot her questions out rapidly.

"The _entire_ history," I grinned.

Her hands grasped her head as she tried to comprehend what I just said.

"That's… so… CRAZY! AND AWESOME!" she yelled jubilantly.

"You think so?" I asked.

"Are you nuts?! Of course! Do you know how useful that would be? Knowing how something works by touching it!? It took me years of studying mechanical engineering and metalsmithing to get where I'm at!" she slumped back into her chair before immediately popping back up. "Just think of the stuff and things I could build if I had something like that!"

"Plenty, I'm guessing?"

"YEAH! Crescent Rose would probably be like even twice more awesome than it already is! Ooh! Do you… you think if I brought her here, would you mind giving it a look with your Semblance?" she asked with hopeful eyes.

"Heh… well first things first. Let's test out your cassette player." I presented a finished product and handed the media player to her.

"Right!" She eagerly placed the cassette back into the slot and plugged her headphones in.

The sound of music filled the air. Her hands hugged the box in pure joy before turning to me.

"You fixed it!" she jumped in her seat with joy. "You fixed it! You fixed it!"

A genuine smile grew on my face as I cleaned up her desk.

"Guh-!"

The small girl wrapped her arms around me, trying to squeeze as hard as possible. Her face dug into my side as I heard a muffled thank you said repeatedly.

I chuckled and patted her hair. "Don't worry about it, just promise me you'll take extra care of it ok?"

"Oh I will!" she pulled herself away and set her cassette player to the side. "Oh wait! I'll get Crescent Rose – stay right here, I'll be right back!"

She zipped out of the room leaving me to my own devices.

I leaned back into the chair and gazed upwards at the ceiling.

"Even though you're a few years older… I think you and Miyu would've gotten along well…" I thought out loud softly to myself.

Already – I can hear Ruby's feet pounding down the hallway.

Bursting through the door way. The girl came back huffing with her weapon cradled like a baby. "I'm back!"

"That was quick," I said with amusement.

"Check this out, and be amazed Shirou!"

She unfurled her weapon. It transformed from a rectangular case of metal into a scythe that looked to be over twice the size of her. She must be pretty strong if she was able to hold it without breaking a sweat.

I whistled, "Impressive."

"I know right!?"

She had a million watt smile plastered on her face.

Clearing up as much space as I could. Ruby gingerly placed _Crescent Rose_ down in front of me and took her seat.

"Hmm – well then… where should I start?"

"Ooh! Can I quiz you?" Her hand was raised as if class were in session.

I smiled. "Sure…"

And so, the two of us bonded over her weapon. She asked her questions. I answered them in detail. I listened patiently as Ruby discussed with passionate about her weapon. I proposed questions to challenger her ideas and debated about the functionality of her prized possession. Minutes would turn to hours as I sat there watching the enthusiastically share her hobby with me.

That smile she had. Those silver eyes filled with innocence and happiness. The pure joy she exuded.

 _Miyu_ …

The wish that was made.

The prayer that was given.

Maybe one day, if I do find her again... she can meet a person like Ruby Rose.

* * *

Author's Note: Chapter 4 took two months. Chapter 5 took four months. Does this mean chapter 6 will take six months? No – I jest. But I sincerely apologize for the extremely long delay in getting this chapter out. This chapter was probably the hardest to develop as I was faced with a myriad of problems. I won't bother you with the details, but if you wish to know. Shoot me a private message.

This will be a long author's note, but please bear with me.

I _really_ struggled with this chapter. Even with the assistance with my new proofreader/editor. I still had great difficulty in putting thoughts and ideas into words. There's approximately over eight, yes a big fat number 8, forms or variations of this chapter. Each one varying in length and direction before I scrapped the idea. Finally on this iteration, I would like to _think_ I got it right and one where you, the reader, would find it enjoyable and reasonable.

Miyuverse Shirou, or 3rei! Shirou, is quite possibly one of the most frustrating characters to write. He's ridiculously **overpowered**. This iteration of Shirou is quite possibly the strongest of them all. And the feats he showed in the manga put him well above almost everyone in the RWBY cast.

He mowed down corrupted heroic spirits that gave Illya and friends trouble with ease.

He managed to project a divine construct that even impressed Kid-Gilgamesh.

He blocked the full force of Thor's hammer with Rho Aias from a large distance to protect Miyu and Illya _while bleeding out and dying_.

Then with the flashback arc. He soloed the _entire_ Holy Grail War by himself. He defeated: Assassin, Caster, Lancer, Berserker, Rider, and Saber all in under a night. _A single night_.

He dodged a one-armed Saber's Excalibur blast and proceeded to tank his own Caladbolg blast before shortly shaking it off to go at it again.

I can go on, but you should get my point now.

3rei! Shirou Emiya is _completely and utterly_ **overpowered**.

So it took some time and length discussions with my editor to set me straight. I wanted this chapter to set a bar for his team to look at and strive for. Hence the chapter title, _The Distance Between Them_ , as a representation how large the gap is.

I didn't want it to be some jerk fest where Shirou just manhandles each of his opponents. So I had to devise limits, plans, and goals for each of the fight. Each fight between each member is different and represents an aspect.

Ren represented skill and finesse.

Nora represented strength and brute force.

Pyrrha represented skill, speed, strength, endurance, and intelligence.

Each fight I took some inspirations from various works inside the Fate universe. I modeled Ren's fight from Kirei vs. Kiritsugu from Fate/Zero. Nora's fight was modeled after Saber vs. Berserker from Fate/UBW. And Pyrrha's fight took inspiration from Lancer vs. Archer from the prologue of Fate/UBW.

I gave him restrictions like having him only using Kanshou instead of both swords. He would gradually work his way up to where Pyrrha proves to be too difficult to defeat and would have to pull out both to effectively handle her. And even then, it wouldn't be enough forcing him to resort to other means.

One of my biggest fears when writing this chapter was the reaction to Pyrrha essentially losing. Or rather how she lost. The first couple of iterations of this scene and chapter had Shirou steamrolling through all the members before I placed restrictions on him. I hope that the fight between them was at least believable and "makes sense" as to why Pyrrha lost in the first place.

I treated Pyrrha's Semblance like you would a Noble Phantasm; a trump card to be used as a last resort. While Pyrrha is most likely the best fighter in the RWBY cast. She still has some ways to go to match heroic spirit and class card levels. She's one of the best at close combat, but ultimately faltered in a contest of range.

I trust that you the reader was able to discern why and how Pyrrha lost. I won't blatantly tell you, but if you're curious enough and need to know. Go ahead and shoot me a PM.

Continuing on, this chapter is meant to serve as a bridge to connect with the latter episodes of RWBY's volume 1. Time continuity is rather strange as they imply to have some sort of time-skip of a month between the episodes _The Badge and The Burden_ and _Jaundice_.

I'll be making my own developments with the story to loosely follow the events that happened in RWBY. I have some things in mind that I hope you all will be looking forward to seeing.

Phew! Thank you for staying with me and still dropping by in my absence. I appreciate all the PMs you all sent me and the reviews over the months. You don't know how much a treat it is to see alert e-mails whenever I check on my g-mail. I sincerely apologize for the stupidly long wait you all had to deal with. The next chapter will be developed much faster now after getting over this hump.

I hope you all enjoyed this new update!

As always, please leave a review of your thoughts on the chapter! Comment on what you liked and didn't like, and what I need to improve on still. Don't hesitate to send me a PM as well for any questions! I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

Word count before A/N: 11,311

 _Proofread/Edited by: Stiama_


	6. The Magus Killer's Legacy

_Chapter 6_

 _The Magus Killer's Legacy_

* * *

"He's good," remarked Ozpin.

"Perhaps a little… too good."

Glynda Goodwitch muttered suspiciously at the footage. She wholeheartedly agreed with Ozpin that Shirou Emiya was good, however she felt something was amiss. Glynda held a belief that talent could be found in anyone and anywhere. Skills could be honed with countless hours of practice, but she was skeptical if talent and raw skill alone could produce something to this degree. It was with a sense of déjà vu as Shirou's situation reminded her of something similar that occurred in the past.

"Well…" he began, "I suppose I can't disagree with you. His performance in comparison to Pyrrha Nikos is beyond stellar." He shook his head in mirth. "And here we assumed that girl would be the one to keep our eyes on. Life truly does work in mysterious ways. Wouldn't you say so?"

"Maybe it works a bit too mysteriously," responded Glynda.

Ozpin glanced to his side. "Still skeptical?"

"Of course," she countered.

"This again?" sighed Ozpin as he leaned back in his chair.

The blonde woman pushed up her glasses. She didn't bother to disguise her heavy set frown. As the second highest ranked person next to the Headmaster, Glynda wasn't afraid to voice her concerns or criticisms.

"It took me a bit to recall. But do you remember the last time we enrolled students with little background that blew past our practical exams out of the water?" It was rhetorical. They both knew who she was referring to. Ozpin responded by sipping his morning drink. "Miss Nikos is good- no," Glynda shook her head, "that's insulting to the girl to say she is simply good. That girl is head and shoulders above everyone else. And yet here, we've just witnessed that same girl getting soundly beaten by some boy we picked up out of nowhere."

The white haired man hid his mouth behind his mug. He had a sneaking suspicion that Glynda hedged her bets on Pyrrha Nikos during their review. He had decades of experience in working with her to pick up on her more discrete habits. To many students and teachers alike, Glynda was the epitome of a perfect instructor.

A model human who was harsh, but fair.

Kind, but stern. Yet despite her preceded reputation, she was still human, and would from time to time, pick and choose her own favorites.

They were few and far in-between. But he knew her long enough to spot it when she did.

"Nonetheless that does not mean Miss Nikos is infallible. No one is."

"No, she's not, you're right. She, like everyone else that enrolls here, has much to learn and experience before they graduate. I can still see room for her to improve. But that boy, Shirou Emiya? I see none of that."

He cocked an eyebrow up.

"That's…" he tried to find the right words, "that's a first from you," he admitted plainly. "What makes you say that?"

In all his years of teaching, he had never once heard her utter those words about anyone. Not even regarding the two that they had accepted years ago. They had welcomed promising students at the academy before. They had greeted prodigious ones who would go on to influence history. In the end, they all began with humble beginnings with their first steps into Beacon Academy.

However for Glynda to admit something like that?

The bespectacled woman at his side silently contemplated before speaking.

"There's a certain distinction that sets him apart from the others," she began. "Not like that of Miss Nikos or Miss Rose, who are both clearly naturally talented. Rather…" she breathed in deeply, as if trading unknown waters, "for him, I want to say that he's talented like those two, but it doesn't feel _right_. The way he handled himself against his teammates speaks of someone with overwhelming amount of combat experience. Not only did he maneuver flawlessly, he was able to manipulate each battle accordingly depending on his opponent. While it's not unheard of for someone to have previous experience before they've arrived her. It's just… unnatural for someone to be that good."

"I see…"

"How old do you think he is Oz?" she asked sharply, eyes narrowed at the video that was paused on Shirou Emiya standing victorious over Pyrrha Nikos. "Seventeen? Maybe eighteen?" She shook her head in dismay. "So young yet someone like him couldn't have possibly attained this level of combat in such a short amount of time… especially against people. Something like this takes decades, if not-"

"-a lifetimes worth to achieve," softly finished Ozpin.

He looked the other way to the windows of office. His eyes settling on the horizon with weariness.

Not just a lifetime, but a multitude of it.

"Yes… I understand what you mean," he murmured.

His hand reached up and rubbed his forehead.

He understood it all too well.

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos yawned as she strode down the hallway to the shooting range.

She had risen earlier than usual. The sun hadn't even begun to show. Most of the school's population was still fast asleep.

Glancing down at the case in her hands, Pyrrha reminisced on the training session with her leader. It had been an eye opener for her. She was confident in her skills, never being arrogant nor complacent, yet the revelation that there was someone even better than her was thrilling. Shirou was like a gust of wind revealing just how far away she was from the summit. And on that peak, Shirou stood alone.

After only knowing victory, the taste of defeat was foreign. However, it only served to strengthen her resolve. The fact that Shirou was able to identify and exploit the few weaknesses she had was astounding. It reignited her competitive spirit that had begun to wane.

Attaining a new goal.

A new mountain to climb and stand upon.

"Although I wonder…" she mused to herself.

Where was Shirou this morning?

He could be found either asleep or working at his desk. It almost felt like he would proactively avoid sleeping in the comfort of his own bed, working tirelessly through the nights on whatever caught his interest.

The redhead shook her head in exasperation.

"Honestly… he shouldn't push himself so hard for the rest of us," she said softly. "But I have to say it's admirable. Yeah – from here on out," she resolved, "I'll do my best to help him in any way I can."

For her, it was the very least she could do.

Letting out a sigh, she continued on her way to the range.

Since staying at Beacon Academy, she had learned that the shooting range was comprised of two buildings. The more frequently used, and popular one was the firearms. It was the larger of the two that had both an indoor and outdoor section. The firearm range, like the rest of the campus, was built with a modern aesthetic and functionality in mind. White concrete, dark steel, and glass dominated the infrastructure making the atmosphere feel naturally cold.

In contrast, the other building was built for a more traditional purpose. The archery range was rarely used, but still well maintained by the staff. Due to less volume, the building was significantly smaller than its modern counterpart. The building was built with stone and wood making it stand out from the rest of the campus.

When her path split that led to either buildings, her ears picked up the distinct sound of a bow's string snap followed by a loud satisfying thunk.

"Someone's already here?" muttered a surprised Pyrrha. Curiosity budded within her as she wondered who could be up so early.

With her interest piqued she decided to take a look.

"A quick peek wouldn't hurt right?" There was still plenty of time for her to get her own practice in before she had to return to the dorms.

Her curiosity overwhelmed her sense of modesty to mind her business as she stepped through the entrance. To the right of the doorway hung a sign that politely reminded visitors to take off their shoes and wear socks to protect the delicately waxed wooden floor.

Quietly sliding the door open. She tiptoed into the foyer and spotted a pair of shoes neatly tucked into a cubby. Her feet slipped out of her shoes and placed them next to the cubby that was occupied She wiggled her toes enjoying the freedom before she stepped out onto the floor.

"W-Wow!" she whispered in awe.

The floor was so immaculately waxed that she could see her own reflection. An impressed smile graced her features as she quietly made her way through the building.

When she parted the flaps that led into the shooting range. A familiar redhead greeted her sight.

"Shirou?"

He sat on the ground, on top of his feet, eyes closed.

In his left hand, he gripped a thin, tall, wooden bow out in front of him with two arrows. One was already nocked, ready to be pulled and shot, while the other one was held laxly in his grip. After a brief moment, his eyes opened, and ever so slowly, he stood up. Each movement measured and performed with grace, Shirou stood at his full height, and raised the bow above his head.

Once it reached its apex, he pulled back the arrow, leveled the bow with his eyes, and turned his head to the target in perfect synchronization.

Pyrrha held her breath as she waited patiently in the background.

He adjusted his aim slightly.

He barely moved his head to the left and up.

"Ha…" he exhaled audibly before he released the string.

 _Snap-Thunk-!_

The arrow flew with grace as it struck the center of the bullseye. He kept his form in post-shot posture with his arms spread wide before folding them to his waist and returning to his original seated position.

And then…

He repeated the whole process once more. With the same speed and motions as before. The following shots and steps being performed diligently and meticulously like before. Every action made without fault. Every motion made with purpose. From hand to arrow and arrow to target was flawless.

He dedicated his entire self to this art that unfolded before her.

He never once missed a shot.

Shirou Emiya made it seem effortless.

How could it not be?

She herself should know that more than anyone else. To attain the level of effortless grace required countless hours of practice. Pyrrha believed in the saying that practice made perfect, and Shirou had obviously honed his skill to perfection as every shot he made landed eerily in the center of the target without fail.

This was just-

"You know… it's considered rude to stare Pyrrha." Shirou spoke as he shot another arrow nonchalantly.

Pyrrha blinked as his voice tore her from her thoughts.

* * *

I turned around.

The silence felt unnerving between us. So what better way to break it then to comment on it?

She placed a hand on her hip; an eyebrow quirked up. "Maybe I'm enjoying the view?" She smirked.

"I didn't peg you to be a voyeur," I countered.

She laughed. "Very funny Shirou.

The corner of my lips curled into a soft grin.

"Good morning Pyrrha," I greeted.

"Good morning to you too Shirou. So what brings you here so early?"

I presented the bow to her. "Well, I haven't practiced in a while. So I figured why not?" I shrugged. It had been weeks if not months since I last practiced. With how things developed and deteriorated that led me to being here; practicing Kyudo was the furthest thing I had on my mind at the time. "Plus it's nice to have the whole place to yourself. Not many people come here often. A lot of the equipment is unused."

"I didn't know you were rusty," presumed Pyrrha.

"Ah, sorry," I waved my hand, "I should have been clearer. I do this more for meditation than anything else. It's a nice way to keep my hands and mind busy. If I'm being honest with you. Most of the time it's all a blur following through the steps and sending an arrow down range."

"That's impressive," complimented Pyrrha. "It's certainly beautiful to watch. I've never seen something so… tranquil before." She held her hands along with her case behind her back. "Your level of concentration is quite the sight. I don't think I've ever seen anyone shoot so accurately like that before."

My mouth suddenly felt dry. Someone had said something similar like this. "…Is that so?" I replied softly.

"Yes!" she smiled jubilantly. "I could watch you all day, it's that addicting. Shirou, you were like the bow itself! What-"

* * *

 _A purple haired girl clapped her hands._

 _She held them up to her face that covered an ethereal smile. The person who received her affections almost felt their heart skip a beat._

" _I love watching you shoot Senpai," she confessed. "Synchronized with no wasted movements… it's like Senpai is the bow itself!"_

 _She brushed her hair behind her ear._

 _The red ribbon holding up her hair fluttered in the wind._

 _Red._

" _-rou?"_

* * *

Red filled my view.

"Shirou?"

My stomach lurched. A cold shiver shot down my spine. A searing hot spear lanced through my heart. The moment I blinked, the vision I had was gone like the wind. Everything had returned to normal.

No purple haired girl.

No Homurahara archery range.

What was before me was a redheaded girl with a worried expression.

"Shirou? Are you okay? You look a little pale," fretted the girl.

I waved her concerns away. "I'm fine, really; sorry for spacing out on you like that."

She reached out with a hand and laid it on my forehead. I blinked a couple of times at the sudden intimate gesture. "Hmm – your temperature seems fine. But maybe you should consider taking it easy. I've noticed that you don't sleep well or often so perhaps it's starting to take its toll on you."

It felt good to have her hand there. To my surprise they weren't as calloused nor rough as I presumed them to be.

" _Senpai…_ "

I sighed tiredly and gently peeled her hand off. "Thanks, you're probably right... but I'm okay now, I promise."

She briefly frowned, but covered it up with a smile. "That's good to hear." It didn't sound like she fully believed me, but accepted it nonetheless. She brushed her hair behind her ear. "If you'd like, I can help organize some things for the team. I know you like to work a lot, but as your partner I figured you would appreciate a helping hand."

Was I that engrossed with my studies that I was being pegged a workaholic? Technically she wasn't wrong, but the implication sort of stung. I wasn't that bad… right? Then I remembered the untold amount of nights falling asleep on the cold concrete floor in my tool shed and grimaced.

I smiled with my eyes closed and nodded. "I'd appreciate that a lot, thank you…"

"Well – I suppose I better get going." Pyrrha presented her silver case. "Need to do my own bit of practice you see. Can't catch up to you if I don't practice. I haven't been this eager in quite some time!"

"That's good to hear," I replied.

"Then I'll see you back at the dorms Shirou," she waved as she left.

"Yeah," I waved back. "See you later Pyrrha…"

When my partner was gone. The archery range fell silent. I was left alone to my thoughts as well as the mounting feels of remorse. When I closed my eyes, I could still see the image of a purple haired girl with her back faced towards me. The bow in my hand grew heavy with each passing moment.

To save one life meant not saving another.

I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

If we ever met again…

What would you say to me?

" _Sakura…"_

* * *

Blake Belladonna glanced over her book.

A parcel of food soared into the air and landed into an open and waiting mouth.

"Ooh-! Yummy!"

"Haha, sweet! Three-points!"

For one reason or another, Yang and Nora were playing with their food. They tossed bits and pieces of whatever they could grab at each other's mouths. It initially began with Yang failing to catch a lobbed grape into her mouth and Nora proudly declaring that she could catch every thrown food without fail. So far, Nora was living up to her boast and had caught every piece thrown by Yang. And Yang not being one to back down from a challenge, kept upping the ante every time.

At some point her leader, Ruby, joined in to cheer on her sister in beating Nora. She whooped and jumped in joy with every toss that jostled a box of cookies nestled in her arms.

Her golden amber eyes scanned further down at the table to see a redheaded teenager sipping from a cup of tea. He had long finished his meal and was content to bask in the background while Nora and Yang had their fun. Her gaze lingered on him.

For Blake, there was something about Shirou Emiya that caught her interest. It felt personal; as if she could relate to him in one way or another.

Out of everyone currently seated at the table, he was possibly the most mysterious. The circumstances of his arrival were dodgy at best. His background even more unexplainable. It made her want to determine who Shirou was.

The irony was not lost upon her.

She felt a strong sense of justice from the way he stood up to Cardin Winchester when no one else would. He was unwilling to become a bystander and watch as injustice unfolded. In a way, it reminded her of another person, although, even with the cursory comparison, Shirou was far more level headed.

Flipping to another page in her book. A doodle of that person's face was scribbled on the top right corner. He had a white mask accompanied with a seemingly permanent scowl. With a heavy sigh, she closed her book and shook her head.

Maybe that was the reason why she sought Shirou out that night. She felt that they were kindred spirits, as they both had an almost stubborn sense of justice. Was Shirou Emiya like _him_ or was he something else entirely? From her observation, Shirou was far more reticent than she expected, always willing to stay more in the background unless required to step in.

At some point or time, she would have to try and strike up a conversation with him. However, from remembering Cardin's episode, Blake realized that it would be best to approach him subtly. This mystery required careful coaxing and prodding rather than brute force to gauge a reaction from Shirou.

Maybe-

 _SMACK-!_

Blake's jaw dropped in disbelief.

A grapefruit, of all things, slammed into the side of Shirou's face just as he went to take another sip of his tea. Her eyes shifted between Yang and Nora who also had their mouths opened in shock. The table fell silent as remnants of his tea dripped down his soaked hair. His eyes were closed and his face set in a stony expression.

"SHE DID IT!"

Yang and Nora both threw each other under the bus at the same time.

The black haired Faunus palmed her face.

* * *

I liked to believe that I had normal table manners and etiquette.

After all, it was common sense.

Don't play with your food. Don't make yourself out to be a fool. And most importantly, respect those around you that were also trying to eat. Nothing too outlandish or strict. They were sensible, courtesy rules that everyone knew and should follow.

So when Yang and Nora started up their little game; I sighed to myself, but refrained from saying anything. Ruby was bounding around in pure joy at their antics. Nora had a smug grin at every thrown attempt. And Yang had an infuriating glare that promised she would beat my teammate to prove a point.

I mean who was I to stop Ruby from being happy?

However, the moment a grapefruit, slammed into my face as I was about to sip on my tea was where I drew the line!

"It was her!" accused Yang. "She started it!"

"H-Hey! You're pretty guilty too ya know! You're the one that kept throwing bigger and bigger stuff!" Nora fought back, showing that she wouldn't go down sinking with the ship alone.

"Here, Shirou!" Pyrrha hastily got up with some napkins to help me clean up.

The tea splashed everywhere. The majority of it onto my face and hair which then cascaded down to my jacket, shirt, and pants. Suffice to say, I was pretty soaked and irritated.

"Are you alright?" My fellow redhead fussed over me.

"Don't worry, I'm fine Pyrrha." I appreciated the gesture and laughed it off to placate her. "Just a little wet and got a bone to pick with two certain _numbskulls_." I glared over to the two who began whistling innocently.

Out of the corner of my eye. I caught Ruby attempting to slink away stealthily. Too bad that bright red hood of hers could be spotted a mile away.

"Ruby, get back over here."

Ruby Rose froze mid-step and whimpered as she hung her head in defeat. She complied and walked over to my side of the table.

"You two," I called out to Nora and Yang with crossed arms. "Food is meant to be eaten, not played with," I shook my head; I felt like I was a parent chastising their children. "The people who prepared the food worked hard to feed us." I imagined that feeding an entire campus full of staff and students was no easy task. "So show some respect to them by eating properly. And have some common courtesy for those around you that are trying to eat as well."

"Like you?" peeped Nora.

"Yes, like me," I glowered.

Nora cowered, on the verge of tears. "I'm so sorry leader!" She clapped her hands together above her head in remorse. "I didn't mean to hurt you or anybody. I won't do it again, I promise! Please, be merciful dear leader!"

"Hmph – serves you right to be scolded by Shirou," muttered Weiss. "Acting like a bunch of hooligans…"

Yang, true to her personality, was defiant. "Geez, you sound like an old geezer when you say that." She leaned forward with her bust pushed out. "What are you gonna do, give me a good old spanking?" The blonde winked. I almost forgot that she was a shameless and bold flirt. "Are you gonna… _punish_ me?"

With each word she leant forward closer and winked.

Almost everyone blushed at the table; except for Ruby who made a disgusted face.

I merely blinked a couple times and bluntly said, "I get it, you're a masochist aren't you?" I put my hand up. "Sorry, but I'm not into that type of play."

"W-What?!" sputtered Yang as she backed up. "E-Excuse me? I am not a masochist!"

"Ho-?" I scrutinized her. "You wanted me to spank you did you not? Or were you trying to compensate for something with that chest of yours?"

"Pfft-! Listen here buddy," a cocky grin lit her face. "With these babies? I ain't gotta have to compensate for nothing! I got the biggest bust around here and damn proud of it! I mean look at Blake and Weiss."

Incredible – this girl had no shame at all.

Blake peered up from her book. "Hey, don't drag me into this." Her eyes said something else though as if she was affronted that Yang implied her bust was smaller in comparison.

Pyrrha, who sat back down by now, took a more diplomatic approach. "I don't think we need to compare anything Yang." She crossed her arms underneath her chest pushing up her bust inadvertently. Her actions betraying her words.

I wanted to palm my face in exasperation.

The redhead and blonde turned towards me, both waiting for my response.

I smiled with my eyes. "Sorry, but for your information Yang, you're not my type."

"Then what is your type huh?" Yang asked as she and everyone else at the table suddenly became interested.

"Hmm… well… that would be telling now wouldn't it?" I grinned. "I'm not that easy."

Yang groaned in disappointment. "Ugh, you're impossible! What does a girl gotta do to get you flustered let alone blush!"

I chuckled and turned away.

"Phew…" Ruby wiped the sweat off her brow. She inched away from my side and thought I had forgotten about her.

She thought wrong.

"Ruby, stay."

"Aww shoot," she returned to her spot and leaned forward with one of the cutest puppy eyes I had ever seen. "Yes Shirou?" She even quivered her bottom lip. My resolve wavered momentarily in the face of such cuteness before I crushed it. The pout was cute, I'll give her that, but she had nothing on Miyu.

"Don't think you'll be getting away clean Ruby. I saw what you had in your arms." I zeroed in on what she was futilely hiding. "Show me."

"Uh… I had nothing! There was nothing in my arms Shirou! Just me, my two arms, and myself! Yep, absolutely nothing interesting her!"

"Show me," I repeated.

"T-There was nothing! I swear!" she squirmed.

"Show me."

"Gah-!" Slowly and begrudgingly, she brought forth a box of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. These were meant for a group of people to eat yet she had eaten over half of the box! There was maybe only a handful left. And from what it looked like, they were the chunky, double chocolate chip variety. The kind that sat heavy in your stomach with just one bite. I grimaced at the amount she had already consumed.

It wasn't even past eight o'clock yet.

"Geez, a growing girl like you shouldn't be eating so much sweets in the morning," I sighed in dismay. "I know you like eating cookies, but you should learn some restraint. Don't you want to grow up big and strong like-" For a split moment, I was about to say Yang. Although if I was being honest, she wasn't quite the role model I wanted Ruby to look up to at the moment. Not to mention when I glanced over, the blonde was already expecting me to say her name, as if it were the only and obvious choice. So taking in consideration to what she just did, I chose someone else out of spite. "-like Pyrrha!"

"Whaaat?!" cried out Yang as her ego deflated instantly. "Hey! Red! I take offense to that you know!"

Her indignation fell on deaf ears.

Pyrrha waved uncomfortably at being put on the spotlight.

"Am I not a good role model?" Yang questioned out loud to everyone at the table. As one, we all turned the other way with a funny expression and coughed.

The table fell silent as the lone blonde wailed into her palms.

"Ignore her," I callously dismissed Yang with a wave. "What I'm trying to tell you is to eat in moderation. Otherwise, treats wouldn't be known as treats now would they? So go ahead and finish what's left in there." Ruby smiled jubilantly. "But, no more for today. You hear me?" The smile was quickly wiped away.

"Aww… okay. But I can still have some tomorrow right?" She asked with hope in her eyes.

I mulled over it briefly. "Yes, but remember, eat in moderation okay? Too much of anything can be bad for you. Now if you don't mind… can I try one?"

"Here you go Shirou!" Ruby happily willing to share the baked delights to avoid any future scolding.

I took a small bite. "Hmm… just as I thought," I murmured.

The cookie was baked nicely enough. However with just one bite I already felt something heavy settle in my stomach. As I chewed, the sweet sugary dough combined with the chocolate kicked in. It quickly became overpowering. No wonder Ruby ploughed through them with reckless abandon; it was sugar on sugar. It would've been more palatable if they threw in some salt or even cinnamon.

A part of me was curious as to what Ruby would think if I baked a batch myself. Even though it had been some time since I last cooked, let alone baked, anything in the kitchen. I was confident enough in my culinary skills to produce something that would impress her.

"Hey Weiss. Are you okay? You've been glued to the television," poked Ruby.

"Shhh!" shushed Weiss. "Can't you see there's something important on the news right now?!"

Weiss directed everyone's attention to the monitor her eyes had been attached to.

* * *

" _From the news desk at Vale News Network. Good morning, I am Lisa Lavender."_

A lavender haired woman in a simple black business suit faced the camera. She held a serious expression that reminded me of Professor Goodwitch. Her tone was neutral and composed like the ones back in Fuyuki City.

" _This morning, we have developing news about the ongoing investigations into several armed robberies that been occurring in the market district in Vale. As you know, local, small, family-operated Dust shops have had their inventory stolen by a band of thieves at gunpoint. So far, the losses have been estimated to be anywhere to the tens of, if not hundreds of thousands, of lien."_

Yang whistled loudly, "That's a whole lotta Dust and money. Who needs that much anyways?"

" _Owners have raised concerns about the lack of progress with the investigations. Even though local law enforcement promised swift action through increased patrols and security. Many decried it as being ineffective due to the nature of how these criminals operate."_

"Excuse me," Weiss stood up abruptly. "I need to make a quick call." She left the table urgently while pulling her scroll out of her pocket.

" _The major retailer and suppler to the city, the Schnee Dust Company, have quietly ramped up their own personal security in response. They have also reportedly contacted Vale's crime department to assist in protecting their shipments. Many of the local owners have voiced out their frustration at the proof that the company is receiving an unfair advantage in the security of their shipments."_

"You think Weiss knows about this?" asked Nora.

"Maybe… who knows?" Although Blake tried her best to hide it; the bitterness of her tone was evident. I glanced at her briefly before breaking away.

" _To the older generation. This does not come to a surprise to anyone as the SDC has historically been known to exploit such incidents into their favor by driving out the smaller markets. Some lawmakers have begun to question the stringent monopoly the legendary family has over Dust. In fact, this year, a seated councilman proposed an antitrust bill with the intent of promoting fair competition in the stagnant business. We reached out to the SDC for a quote, but have yet to receive any response."_

I peeked over in the direction where Weiss rushed out. No wonder she excused herself to make a hasty call. She must be worried sick about what all this meant for her and her company's image.

" _Victims and eyewitnesses to the crime scene report that the one behind these robberies is a relatively tall man who wears a white suit, black bowler hat, and carries a black cane. His most distinctive feature being that he has orange hair. As for his accomplices, they wear a black suit and red tie that are suspected to have failed from a local mafia group in the area. They are to be considered heavily armed and dangerous. We advise you to take caution and report to the authorities if you have any information pertinent to the investigation."_

"White suit, black bowler hat, and cane?" muttered Ruby. "Hmm…"

Did Ruby know something about this person?

" _That's all the time we have for now. We'll be back later with the evening broadcast. Thank you for tuning in, this is Lisa Lavender, signing off."_

* * *

"Ruby," I called out. "Recognize him?"

"Oh uh," she scratched the back of her head nervously. "Well, it happened a couple weeks ago but… when I was in the city. I stopped by local Dust shop to resupply since I was running low. I had my headphones on at the time listening to one of my favorite songs and it was pretty good you know? So I turned up the volume and everything. Plus the shop had some albums in the back too! And-"

"Ruby, focus," I reminded her. "You said you were in a Dust shop?"

"Haha-! Uh, sorry," she meekly apologized. "Anyways, this guy taps on my shoulder and was like, _'Put your hands in the air!'_ and I was like, _'Are you robbing me?'_ So he was like, _'Yeah I'm robbing you!'_ So I kicked the guy out of the window into the street like in those action movies! And then all these goons came rushing out so I unfurled Crescent Rose to kick their asses! Then, after I kicked their butts, the last guy pointed his cane and shot at me! It blew like a chunk of the street! But it was a distraction because I saw him climbing up a building to escape so I asked the shop owner if he was ok cause it was a huge explosion and all so-"

"Ruby, getting off track again," I chided her softly.

"Guh-! Sorry, sorry!" she poked her index fingers together. "Ok so, I chased the guy up to the roof. When I got there, a bullhead was waiting to pick him up. He tried blowing me up with a red dust crystal, but that was when Professor Goodwitch came in out of nowhere and saved me! So we tried shooting down his ride, but there was some other person with him that blocked all of our attacks somehow and got away. But yeah, that's where I recognize him."

"I see…" Ruby had a run in with the guy not too long ago. She looked proud that she had stopped his robbery and deservedly so. "Good job," I crossed my arms and nodded in approval. "You're a lot stronger than you look aren't you?"

"Yeah!" she beamed. "I gotta be strong like Pyrrha right?"

"Hey!? What about your big sis?" Yang cried. "No love for me?"

"But Shirou said to look up to Pyrrha!"

"Ooh-!" The blonde fumed in an angrily sister way. "You're so getting a noogie! Come here you!" Her hands snatched out to Ruby's hood and pulled her in. "Say uncle!"

"Guhck-! Someone! Help me! Shirou please!" she reached out to me pleadingly.

"Oi, oi-! What did I just talk about table manners?" I scowled at Yang. "And let your sister go. You look like your suffocating her."

"Bite me red!" she grinned cheekily and pulled Ruby into a hug.

"Yeah, no. Didn't I tell you I'm not into that kind of stuff?" I blandly replied.

"Hey, you guys chill. Weiss is coming back," pointed out Blake.

* * *

Weiss Schnee marched back to the table.

Gone was the regal air that she typically exuded. The perfect image of the Schnee Heiress fractured. Eyes narrowed. A frown expressive of the frustration built up that was ready to explode at a moment's notice.

When she sat back down. The table fell silent. All eyes were on her.

"So…" started Yang to break that silence. "What's up? How'd it go?"

The heiress stiffly exhaled. "Not bad, but not good either."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You would expect that seeing as how I would one day inherit the company. I would be given a certain measure of respect," began Weiss. "But the gall of that lady on the phone." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I called the central offices of the SDC with a direct inquiry about the on-going situation with our Vale department. And you know what response I was given?"

"What'd they say?" asked Yang.

"They said and I quote, _'Even if you are the heiress, you currently do not hold any official capacity or position within the company. Therefore, such information is privy to select members of the board on this current matter,'_ " she paused to let it sink in. " _Me_. The one who will one day be running the company was told to effectively _butt out_. Who do they think they are? How could they rebuke me like this? Just because I had a disagreement with-"

Her mouth clamped shut.

"Uh… Weiss? You alright?" Yang waved.

The aforementioned girl averted her gaze. "Never mind. I'd rather not talk about this anymore."

"A-Alright…"

The abrupt end of her explanation was jarring. Another uncomfortable silence layered itself onto the table. No one attempting any conversation at the awkward development. Most took to minding to themselves or looking worriedly at each other.

My gaze lingered on Weiss for a moment before breaking off.

It seemed even someone like her had trouble on the home front.

"I bet it's _their_ fault."

Weiss spat out venomously, an ugly scowl accompanying her accusation. One that drew curious and confused gazes to her once more.

"Whose fault?" innocently wondered Ruby.

" _The White Fang_ ," answered Weiss.

And like that, a veritable bomb exploded on the table.

"Excuse me?" It came from Blake who had long shut her book. Her amber colored eyes glowed dangerously. "The White Fang wasn't even mentioned in the news report. Why do you have to drag their name into this without any proof? Just because your family has a history with them doesn't mean it's automatically them!"

My lips compressed into a thin line as I watched it all unfold before me.

"How could you even defend them? Are you sympathizing with them? They're a terrorist organization that has long since terrorized the Schnee Dust Company for years, if not decades! They've stolen from my company before! So I wouldn't be surprised if they're doing it again just in a roundabout fashion!" retaliated Weiss.

"W-What?" Blake physically recoiled back in offense. "They're not a terrorist organization! How could you say something like that? Yes, some may be misguided," she conceded one point, "but in the end all they want is peace and equality! How does that equate to terrorism? Maybe if your family didn't treat Faunus like slaves then you wouldn't have a problem with them in the first place!"

Turnabout was fair play and so it was Weiss's turn to be offended.

"U-Uh guys? Blake? Weiss?" Ruby called out tentatively. "How about we calm down?"

"Stay out of this Ruby." Weiss snapped at her leader causing Ruby to shrink in her seat. The white haired girl rounded back to her black haired teammate. "And you? Slaves? How dare you! How could _you_ say something like that? I know we're teammates and all, but I can't let such slander slide by like that! We do not and have never treated _anyone_ like slaves!"

My eyes scanned around the table. They were stunned into silence by how quickly things devolved. Ruby attempted to reign her teammates and defuse the situation. Weiss however was not one to lose an argument when it pertained to her family and company. Even the normally rambunctious Yang sat at the side unsure as to how to approach the touchy subject.

"You spoiled brat!" insulted Blake. "How about you-"

I closed my eyes and heaved out a tired breath.

"Blake, Weiss, _quiet_ ," I ordered just before Blake could fire back another scathing remark. "If the two of you refuse to be civil then I suggest we drop the subject before one of you makes a mistake in choosing your next words." I stomped my foot down once again with no room for argument. "Weiss," I glared, "don't go around making accusations without proof. Just because there is correlation does not imply causation."

Weiss sneered, but held her tongue.

"Blake," I directed my focus to her. She was in just as much fault as Weiss. "You should know better than to devolve into personal insults. I thought you were better than that." The black haired girl winced in shame. "The two of you are teammates _and_ friends. You can amiably come to understanding without having to come to blows."

I stepped in and doused the fire as best as I could. Twice in one day I had to lecture them like I was their parent. I'm beginning to feel as if I was nothing but a glorified peacekeeper.

The two members of Team RWBY bit their lips. They refused to swallow their pride and apologize. Both strongly entrenched on opposite sides of the argument.

However – when they glanced back to me; their stances faltered.

Weiss prided her vanity more than anything else. Image was first, therefore she apologized first. "I'm sorry… for my lack of decorum Shirou." She wasn't apologizing for what she said to Blake, but for how she acted. The girl refused to accept defeat on this topic. She would have her victory won way or another.

And the same went with Blake. Although, hers sounded genuinely sincere.

"Sorry Shirou," she apologized to me. "I won't bring it up again."

"You should be apologizing to Ruby, not me."

* * *

My team and I strode out of the dining hall.

"That was… quite the development," said Ren. He had abstained from most of the conversations during breakfast.

"That's lightly putting it Ren! I thought they were going to fight or something! I didn't know people, let alone teammates, can get like that so fast!" fretted Nora.

"Sometimes… people can be quite passionate about things and in-turn can become very defensive," reasoned out Pyrrha. "And that can often devolve very quickly if left unchecked."

"Yeah…" my voice trailed off.

If they thought the situation with Blake and Weiss deteriorated fast then they should have witnessed the spat between me and Julian. Thinking back on it, we didn't even exchange much words between each other after the revelation. He went straight to a battle to the death.

I brushed a hand through my hair. "We'll just have to hope they can work things out themselves. In the meantime, we should worry about ourselves before we start worrying about another team."

"Do you have something planned today for us Shirou?" questioned Pyrrha.

"Ooh! What are we doing Shirou?" bounded around Nora. "Are we gonna have ourselves a merry training montage?! Maybe learn some kick ass, super cool combo moves for us to use?" She then kicked and punched while doing a horrible impression of Ren. "Or are we gonna beat each other up like last time? Magnhild and I want some payback you know!"

I chuckled and waved for them to follow. "Come along Nora and you'll find out soon enough."

"Ooh-! It's a surprise! I love surprises Shirou!" jumped Nora. "What are we waiting for? Come on, let's go!" She shoved all three of us forward enthusiastically.

* * *

"I… hate surprises," lamented Nora.

The hammer wielding girl's shoulders slumped in disappointment as she dragged her feet along. She casted a downtrodden gaze all around the library as I led them to a private study room. Admittedly, I took in some small measure of delight in her slow realization of where we were heading.

I felt like that fake priested rubbed off on me in more ways than one.

"This is payback isn't it?" sobbed the girl. "I said I was sorry Shirou!"

I answered back with a grin and brushed her aside. "Today," I announced, "we'll be furthering our preparations as a team."

I opened the door to a spacious room secluded near the back of the library. Far away from any prying eyes or attentive listeners. I thought that by having a change in scenery would be nice instead of staying cooped up in our dorm.

"Hah?" Nora dragged her feet in and plopped down on a seat at the table.

As soon as the last person came through, I locked the door and closed the blinds. The room was able to accommodate up to eight people at time if need be. There was rectangular table situated in the middle with eight chairs. On the wall opposite from the door was a whiteboard that spanned the entire length with an assortment of dry erase markers.

"That's right Nora." I pulled out my notebook from my bag and strode over to the whiteboard. "Today as a team, we'll be going over strategy and tactics. I hope with the next several days," I turned around to address them, "this will put everyone the same page. I know you," I jabbed my marker at Nora, "prefer a more hands-on approach. However, this is something that's vital for us to do before we can function effectively as a team. I'd rather not have us bumble around like clueless idiots tripping and bumping into each other when we fight."

"So uh…" Nora began sheepishly. "Does this mean I still get to smash stuff with Magnhild…right?"

I blinked disbelievingly; Nora was such as simple girl. "Yes."

In a flash, she pulled out a pencil and notebook. "I'm ready captain!"

My right cheek twitched. "That you are…"

Ren made an agreeing noise. "Providing clear instructions and structure will undoubtedly increase our efficacy in combat. Planning one step ahead and being prepared is a sound idea." And then he followed suit of Nora by bringing out his own study materials. "I am ready to learn Shirou."

Now my eye began to copy my cheek. "Y-Yeah…"

What was up with them today? I peered over to Pyrrha.

"You know what they say Shirou. When in Mistral, do as the Mistralians do," she shrugged her shoulders and did the same.

"R-Right…" Was that supposed to be the Roman proverb equivalent in this world?

"Nora raised her hand. "Teacher?"

"You know this isn't a class right?" I pointed out to her. "And I'm not a teacher. We're just having a team meeting…"

"Mister Emiya."

"You know what? Never mind," I muttered and went with it. "Yes… Miss Valkyrie?"

"So does this mean we'll actually make cool combo moves? You know like an awesome signature move? Something that'll tie our name with? For example, Ren and I, ours can be labeled uh… _Flower Power_! Yeah!" She smashed her fist into her palm liking the sound of that title. "Since Ren is like a ninja and has these super-duper kung-fu moves, he can be the flower! And I got _Magnhild_ to bring on the power! And we can like combo them together to do an ultra-cool move! How does that sound?"

My jaw was left slightly hanging by the end of it. I was struck with disbelief at how absurd it sounded. I was positive that if my old man was here, his cigarette would have fallen out of his mouth.

"No," I declined outright.

"Whaaa-aaat?!" she sprawled out over the table. "Why not?" she whined.

A harsh response danced on the tip of my tongue. Ready to lash out at the ridiculousness of it. But that wasn't conducive in my effort to keep us on track. Besides, was Nora some sort of chuunibyou?

"Because it puts us in danger. A liability, if you will. Let me put it this way. Your trump card is your _Flower Power_ move right?" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "And your opponent also has a trump card as well. Neither of you know what the other person's trump card is, but the name is a telltale sign of what is to come. While it doesn't give it away completely. It's just enough for the other person to react accordingly. That's a situation we want to avoid as much as possible."

Special moves were akin to that of a Noble Phantasm. Revealing the name often revealed the legend behind the Heroic Spirit. If the other person knew of their legend then it was easy to discern the weakness that caused their inevitable downfall. That was why most Servants were reluctant to use their Noble Phantasm, let alone their real names, unless it was absolutely necessary or they believed they could get away with it.

"Information is crucial on the battlefield," I stated. "Often times, knowledge is the deciding factor whether you win or lose."

"I must agree with Shirou on this Nora," said Pyrrha. "It… may have some merit, but the trade-offs are too steep. But I'm sure it doesn't mean we won't have combo attacks or anything like that right Shirou? It's just that… well, we'll be far more discrete." Pyrrha laid a supportive hand on Nora's shoulder.

"Of course," I followed up, "instead of using flashy names. We'll rely on each other's actions to communicate. Nothing too complex, but something simple enough that it'll obscure what we're trying to accomplish."

"Puhhh." Nora pouted as she crossed her arms. "Fine, so whatcha got in store for us?"

As I began to copy my notes onto the whiteboard, I turned to her. "Hmm… then let me see what you think."

* * *

I waited patiently.

The room was quiet.

By now, all three of my teammates had stopped writing.

Nora looked back and forth between Ren and Pyrrha.

Ren rubbed his chin in thought; scrutinizing the board with an unerring gaze.

Pyrrha was the last to finish copying the board onto her notebook. She took the most time out of everyone to jot down the information presented to her. Those piercing green eyes studied my presentation thoroughly. When she felt that she was ready, she breathed in.

"You're proposing _anti-huntsmen_ tactics… am I correct?" the redhead stated softly.

"Yes."

I refrained from explaining what I had presented. I wanted to gauge their initial reactions before I reasoned with them. But Pyrrha's perception was second to none.

"You can be quite ruthless when you want to be Shirou," declared Pyrrha.

"This… plan of yours," she began, "revolves around the idea of exploiting what most individuals perceive as the strength of any Huntsmen group. But you? You intend to use that as a weapon. An antithesis of what we've been taught here. That with teamwork, camaraderie, and cooperation are what makes a team strong. And here you are, proposing that we use it against them. How pragmatic of you…"

I closed my eyes.

"If you boil it down, we're simply isolating and eliminating," simplified Ren. "We work together to separate and single out their leader. Once we've ascertained that information. We switch our attention to that person to prevent them from executing their own strategy. Then they are faced with the dilemma of either continuing their plan or sacrificing one of their own to accomplish it."

Pyrrha piggybacked off Ren's extrapolation.

"And to achieve that. You're exploiting Nora's raw strength by having her wreak havoc within the first opening moments of the fight. A coordinated and controlled chaos if you will. Which is followed up by me rushing in to support her while Ren slinks into the background to wait for a critical or even decisive blow. In the midst of all that we have you," she pointed at me, "providing long-range support with your bow allowing you to control and dictate the fight from afar."

"It's very utilitarian and pragmatic. Nothing flashy, nothing fancy. A straightforward solution to dealing with other Huntsmen," commented Ren.

"Is this why we fought a couple days ago?" wondered Nora.

"Yes," I opened my eyes and answered. "All of holds a different approach on how battles should be fought. Like piecing together a puzzle to form a picture. I simply fitted the parts into roles that complimented each other the best to play to our strengths and cover our weaknesses."

"What… inspired you to come up with something like this?" inquired Pyrrha.

My eyes dulled at the question.

I reluctantly answered her, "I suppose you could say I… took some inspiration from my old man."

All of it was tame in comparison to how _he_ actually operated. This was but a small glimpse into the mind of the man whose name became synonymous with efficiency. What he lacked in strength and abilities as a magus, he made up for it in extreme amounts of preparation and planning.

That was how his anti-magus tactics came to be. His answer to thaumaturgical threats were modern weaponry and an unconventional approach to combat. He went to great lengths in preparing a confrontation against a magus. If he were given a choice between dueling and simply sniping his opponent from afar; he would always choose to snipe. He preyed on their strength and arrogance to cause their own downfall.

And that was the approach I applied.

Unorthodox methods made him a notorious figure in the circle of magi. There were no tactics or strategies he considered to be underhanded. Everything was fair game in the battlefield. If one chose to hide in a building then his answer would be to simply collapse it with a person inside. And if it concerned magical contracts that prevented him from harming the person; he would simply have someone else kill them. Such logic begets infamy; even the Holy Church recognized him as an individual that required constant surveillance. And in time, he was eventually branded with a title by the Mage's Association.

Emiya Kiritsugu, _the Magus Killer_.

"Was he some sort of huntsmen or something?" she prodded for more information.

I diverted my eyes away from her. "Something like that."

"Oh… uh…" she didn't know how to respond to that. "I see…"

As if sensing that I was uncomfortable with the topic; Ren brought up another point of discussion. "What about against the creatures of Grimm? How should we approach them?"

I turned my attention to Ren. There was an underlying edge to that seemingly benign question. "It depends on what type of species. We can be straightforward in our approach to exterminating them. In fact, we can actually recycle our approach to other Huntsmen and repurpose it towards Grimm."

"What about the ones that have a certain degree of intelligence?" he persisted.

That was… oddly specific.

From what I could remember both reading and learning from Professor Port's class. Grimm with intelligence were few and far in-between. If I remembered correctly, he said the truly intelligent could be counted with just one hand. It would take decades, if not centuries, for Grimm to accumulate experience against battles with Man. And that was if they survived the encounter.

Still – I was their leader and the onus to provide a solid countermeasure was on me.

"With this." I traced a weapon and laid it on the table.

"This is the same sword you used to beat me," observed Pyrrha.

"If we do ever encounter a Grimm with a _certain degree of intelligence_. We will shift our priority to the most immediate threat and eliminate it with extreme prejudice. While our normal weapons will suffice. This," I placed my hand on the Black Key's hilt, "will simply make it easier."

"This… sword," Pyrrha's eyes were glued to it. "It pierced my shadow and stopped me in my track. What… what kind of sword can do that?"

"It's a special weapon with special properties." I answered ambiguously and picked up the sword to eye level. "They're too thick and oddly-balanced. The weight is more towards the tip and it's awkward to use as a melee weapon when you're slashing. So despite its appearance, you're supposed to throw it more than anything else. Looks aside, the sword is exceptional at piercing things like iron or steel. So if you have a good arm you can skewer most things."

"I… see," slowly said Pyrrha. "Thank you for the explanation."

"No problem." With a simple squeeze, I dispersed the weapon into motes of light. "Is that an acceptable answer Ren?"

"Yes… that is acceptable," he nodded.

"Anything else?" I asked around.

"Hmm… what about our Semblances Shirou?" Pyrrha brought up another important topic. "How should we approach that?"

I hummed in thought. Finally, something that I didn't have to be so obscure and ambiguous about. "Preferably, I'd like for them to be used sparingly. And if we're pressed then we use it quickly and covertly as much as possible. So in general, the less that we rely on them the better."

"I like the idea," she quickly agreed. "That way it adds another layer of defense, albeit one more psychological."

"Right, so does anyone have any more questions?" I looked around and Nora's rand rose up. "Yes Nora?"

She smiled ever so sweetly. It was that sickening type of sweetness. The kind that made you queasy at the mere sight of it let alone taste. "When do we get to start?"

That evil glint in her eyes was unmistakable. What sort of evil machinations lied behind in that mind of hers? What unspeakable thoughts of horrors laid underneath? Did I just irresponsibly awaken something deep within her? Well… seeing as how I made my bed, it was only natural for me to lie in it.

I pulled out my scroll to check the time and date.

With a late afternoon class, it left us several hours of free time. We had about two weeks before first major exam came around. There was more than enough time for us to prepare and then some.

"Well… how about now?"

"Wait really?" Nora shot up from her seat; excitement written all over her face. "You're not pulling a trick right?"

I chuckled. "No, I'm not that evil."

"Yes!" She pumped her arm. "Let's get going! I wanna see how this works out!"

I began to erase all of my notes on the whiteboard.

The sound of Nora smashing her fist into her palm filled the air. I winced and felt sorry for any poor soul who had the bright idea of getting in her way.

"Let's rock and roll leader!"

* * *

Fall was quickly approaching.

The nights were getting colder.

A breeze washed over the rooftop as my legs hung off the ledge. My gaze casted upwards to the clear sky. There was not a single cloud in sight. I was able to see the shattered moon and twinkling stars in all their heavenly beauty.

Sitting at my side was a warmed can of tea and book that I checked out from the library. The warmth radiating from the aluminum can felt comforting in my hands. As I moved to pop open the tab. A voice announced itself from behind.

"Fancy seeing you here again."

I glanced over my shoulder. "Blake."

Our eyes met for a brief moment. A small smile adorned her usual stoic expression. She stood in the doorway still dressed in the school's uniform like me. This was the second time she's caught me on the rooftop. Once was chance. Twice was coincidence. If we encountered each other a third time, it would be intentional.

"Mind if I… join you?" she asked politely.

I had half a mind to turn her down on the spot. However, I was curious as to why she was up this late. IT was almost one in the morning after all. "Sure."

"Great," her smile grew. She strode her way over and settled down to my left.

Situating herself at her seat. I could feel her sneaking glances every now and then as I tugged on the can's tab. I sighed and begrudgingly asked, "Would you like it?"

"What kind of tea is it?" asked Blake.

"Green tea."

Another smile and nod, "Sure, if you don't mind that is."

My shoulders slumped in defeat. I handed it over to her to which she thanked and cupped it with both hands. As I watched her pop it open and take a swig. I couldn't help but blurt out, "You're welcome."

The way it came out flat and sarcastically made Blake quirk an eyebrow. "Hey," she brought her hands up in defense. "You're the one that offered, not me."

"And you could've turned it down," I riposted.

"We could share it if you'd like," she offered the can. "I don't think I'll be able to finish it all by myself. Plus I don't want to go running to the bathroom in the middle of the night."

"No thanks," I quickly replied.

"Suit yourself," she shrugged. "Just more for me then," teased Blake.

The way she sad it caused my right cheek to twitch uncontrollably. It must've looked weird as she began to giggle softly to herself. Why this girl…

Out of the eight people in our circle of friends. There were three that tended to keep to themselves; Ren, Blake, and myself. Out of the three of us, Blake was the one who favored the most being alone and aloof. Which was ironic coming from me as I tended to be the same as well. Although seeing as how I was a team leader that wasn't realistic.

Her giggles in the background died down as she stared at the can and became quiet.

My gaze lingered for a moment before I went back to stargazing. Seconds turned into moments and moments turned into minutes. Neither of us said anything to each other as we enjoyed each other's company.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

I turned back to her, but Blake's eyes were focused on the can. Her unexpected apology came out of nowhere.

"Sorry for what?" I asked.

She took a breath before speaking. "For what happened this morning," answered Blake. "I'm sorry that you had to see that… mess. I lost control of myself. I didn't mean to get heated so quickly, but Weiss was just… I don't know…"

Blake's hands fuddled around with the can. The normally stoic girl was flustered beyond belief. Her thumb kept drawing circles as she swung her legs lazily. She was passionate about the subject for good reason. Blake Belladonna was a Faunus in hiding. History was unkind to her race. Therefore, it was only natural for her to respond unkindly back.

We both knew it.

Neither of us needed to mention it.

"Its fine, you don't have to apologize to anyone let alone me."

Her bow flattened. She bit her lips and took a sip from the can. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

My response elicited a small laugh and a shake of her head. "What do you think of _justice_?"

I froze.

My eyes hardened at her question. I looked down at my right hand that clenched into a fist. I sighed and rubbed my eyes tiredly. I didn't know how to answer Blake. If she asked me that question a few years ago. I would've given her a resolute answer, but now? I was hesitant at best to give my opinion.

I diverted my gaze away from her and back to the skies.

"Justice is… subjective."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's complicated," I murmured.

"We- _I_ don't really know much about you Shirou," she started off. "But a feeling in me tells me we're alike in some ways. And well… that word was the first thing that came to mind. I can't help but feel that word fits you best." She twiddled with the can again. "Most people try to stay out of the whole Faunus and Human debate. It's a… touchy subject as you could already tell. So it surprised me when you stepped in and-"

"If I'm being honest with you," I interrupted her. "I was being selfish."

"Selfish?" she repeated in confusion.

"In a way I guess I was just trying to keep the peace," I confessed. "For the sake of everyone at the table."

"Because of Ruby?"

"Mmm," I nodded my head. "I'm sure she already knows about the situation with Faunus kind. But seeing friends tear each other apart is something else. Even though she's the team leader, she's still young and has a lot to experience. I'm pretty sure that she's never experienced a breakdown of relationships before." Memories of Julian and I flashed through my mind. I made a face but quickly hid it away. "It can be ugly. It can be hurtful. So if anyone that you should be apologizing to, it should be Ruby."

"Was this from experience?" Blake asked tentatively.

"And you?"

I turned it back onto her.

Once again amber eyes connected with golden brown eyes. We sat there in silence staring at each other before a cold breeze washed over the rooftop. She broke off eye contact first and returned to her drink. Even though we both denied each other an answer. The refusal to share was more than enough for us to empathize with one another.

Blake Belladonna wasn't the only one here attending Beacon Academy under mysterious pretenses.

A dark haired girl with a shrouded background.

A red haired boy with a secretive past.

Two very different individuals that shared very similar circumstances.

"We're friends right?" she asked.

As of this moment? "Yes."

The entire time since she had been here. Not once had she looked up. She had always kept her vision casted downwards. Almost afraid that if she were to look up it would expose something about her; as if it would leave her vulnerable. She was afraid, but hid it underneath her mask well.

"That's good…" She inhaled deeply and sighed out in relief. "I'm really happy to hear that. If you don't mind, I think I should be going to bed now. It's getting late and well… I think I have some making up to do tomorrow with Ruby." Blake got up from her seat and excused herself.

"Blake," I called out to her before she left. "I won't always be there for Ruby. That goes to say that I won't always be able to put out any fires between you and Weiss. So next time, for both my sake and Ruby's, try not to let it get to _that_ point."

"I understand," nodded Blake. "Oh and Shirou?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you," she smiled.

I blinked.

A genuine and sincere smile. Under the veneer of unreadable expressions. A curtain was pulled away for a brief moment that exposed something precious. An almost closely guarded and protected image that only a few, I imagined, had ever seen.

"Goodnight Shirou."

"…Goodnight Blake."

The door closed shut and I was alone. Another cold gust of wind smoothed over the building. My eyes remained on the door for a moment longer than I would've liked.

When I went back looking up at the night sky, I shut my eyes.

"Man… I really wanted that tea."

* * *

 _Author's Note:_

So… this is super awkward. Remember when I joked about the next update being so and so long? Yeah… in hindsight I shouldn't have done that and that joke came biting me in the ass. Long story short? Writer's block.

I apologize for almost a _literal_ years' wait for another update. I agonized. I worried. And I over thought over how I should develop the chapter and story. Every time I typed something onto Word. I hated myself. I hated how the characters sounded and talked. I hated the dialogue. I hated the transitions. The more I typed, the more I started to hate every single thing that I did as an amateur author.

I've had too many nights just staring at the word document with a blank expression for hours before I turned away. I've also had too many days just scribbling into a little notebook trying to figure out how to even type again. It also didn't help that a combination of university, Fortnite, and Fate/Grand Order kept distracting me. And boy oh boy, is F/GO a huge distraction. Game is addicting when all you want to do is collect everyone.

So with that out of the way, I have to thank my editor, who turned into a valuable friend, for encouraging me and having patience to deal with my frustrations. So this one is out to you **Stiama**. Thank you for being there even when you could have just upped and left.

I originally intended this chapter to wrap up half of volume 1 and proceed to the next arc/development of the story. Things didn't pan out, over twenty variations of the chapter later, and boom. We now have this story. Chapters one through six was supposed to be used for establishing Shirou into the RWBY world and cast. But somewhere along the way, I realized that chapter six needed to develop the relationships more between the main character and his environment.

I wanted to show better leadership, his underlying trauma, and the conflict that he has within him. I'm always concerned about accidentally portraying him as a perfect character that can do no wrong or anything like that. That even with all his skills and power. He's still a fundamentally broken character with his history of being a hero of justice.

Anyways, this author's note is turning out to be longer than the other one. Once again, I'm sorry for this stupidly long wait. The next chapter actually won't take a thousand years to develop as I've gotten a good grasp on how I want it to pan out and continue into the next arc of this story.

As always, please leave a review of your thoughts on the story. I welcome any and all critiques or comments about the chapter. If you want any questions answered/explored, please feel free to send me a private message. I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for reading another update of my story!

Word count before A/N: 11,661


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